You can tell when something's not moving forward anymore. When the doubts you have about it don't go away. Jeffrey Eugenides anymoredoubtforward Change image and share on social
I want an ending that's satisfying. I'm more of a classical writer than a modernist one in that I want the ending to be coherent and feel like an ending. I don't like when it just seems to putter out. I mean, life is chaotic enough. Jeffrey Eugenides chaoticclassicalcoherent share on social
I had a briefcase at one point, but it was a kind of 1980s New Wave briefcase. It was made of some kind of cardboard and it had metal hinges. It was kind of faux industrial looking, and I used to carry my books in it rather than a backpack. I didn't want to have normal student accoutrements. Jeffrey Eugenides 1980saccoutrementbackpack share on social
The book has many different characteristics: some are extremely old-fashioned storytelling traits, but there are also a fair number of postmodern traits, and the self-consciousness is one. Jeffrey Eugenides bookcharacteristicconsciousness Change image and share on social
A few years ago in Chicago, I rented an office, and I went there every day. For the most part I do work at home in an ugly room. Jeffrey Eugenides agochicagoday Change image and share on social
I think the suicides in my first book came from the idea of growing up in Detroit. If you grow up in a city like that you feel everything is perishing, evanescent and going away very quickly. Jeffrey Eugenides bookcitydetroit Change image and share on social
At the same time, it's a family story and more of an epic. I needed the third-person. I tried to give a sense that Cal, in writing his story, is perhaps inventing his past as much as recalling it. Jeffrey Eugenides calepicfamily Change image and share on social
Some Pulitzer winners - novelists - have confided to me that getting the prize screwed them up. It messed with their heads. That hasn't been my experience. Jeffrey Eugenides confideexperiencehead Change image and share on social
I approach writing female characters the same why I approach writing male characters. I never think I'm writing about women, I think I'm writing about one woman, one person. And I try to imagine what she is like, and endow her with a lot of my own thoughts and history. Jeffrey Eugenides approachcharacterendow share on social