My mother's family has been in Maine for over 300 years on the same farm. They have a King George III deed. Alexander Chee deedfamilyfarm Change image and share on social
A woman's desire is either terrifying, or it's ignored. Alexander Chee desireterrifywoman Change image and share on social
My fascination with women's clothes began very early. My mother was a very fashionable woman. She also made her own clothes. She had these fashion magazines, and I would draw the women in them. My middle school art teacher suggested that I have a fashion drawing show. Alexander Chee artbeginclothe share on social
I said that I like to write on trains and that I wished Amtrak had residencies for writers. Alexander Chee amtrakresidencytrain Change image and share on social
When you're writing historical fiction, you have to think a little farther into the situation: what the average social interactions were, what was acceptable behavior. What did people think was fun, what did they find unhappy, and why? Alexander Chee acceptableaveragebehavior share on social
As a young writer, I questioned the idea that I had to write fiction in a world where I could write my own ethnicity only and nothing else. 'Fach' to me was a little like that. As a biracial person, that's an inherently unstable identity. Alexander Chee biracialethnicityfach share on social
I sat down to try to write 'Edinburgh,' an autobiographical novel, and that took five years to write and two years to sell. Alexander Chee autobiographicaledinburghsell Change image and share on social
My literary heroes were mostly women writers and thinkers - Joy Williams, Joan Didion, Anne Sexton, June Jordan, Sarah Schulman, Audre Lorde, Cherrie Moraga, Christa Wolf - and much of this writing was political as well as literary. Alexander Chee anneaudrecherrie share on social
I'm not much of a Rick Moody fan, but I want to be a fan for the Rick Moody I thought might appear after his first two novels, 'Garden State' (1992) and 'The Ice Storm' (1994). Alexander Chee fangardenice Change image and share on social
When you're bi-racial, in the town I was in, in Maine, people kept asking, 'What are you?' It was like I wasn't even human. Alexander Chee humanmainepeople Change image and share on social
