In grammar school I read 'Act One' by Moss Hart, and being a playwright struck me as the most magical and romantic career anyone could have... But I never did write a play. Alice McDermott actcareergrammar Change image and share on social
I think a misconception among many non-religious people is that anyone with a strong faith is, in all ways and at all times, blindly consistent, unwavering, unquestioning. Alice McDermott blindlyconsistentfaith Change image and share on social
My parents were both first-generation Irish Catholics raised in Brooklyn. Alice McDermott brooklyncatholicgeneration Change image and share on social
Publishing a short story can sometimes feel like shouting into the dark... your words come out, and then nothing... but I don't think that's why I tend to write novels rather than stories. Alice McDermott darkfeelnovel Change image and share on social
A tendency to make metaphorical connections is an occupational hazard for those of us who write. Alice McDermott connectionhazardmake Change image and share on social
I'm interested in characters who should know better, who know they should give up, move on, accept life as it is, with all its constraints - life, death, time - but don't. Alice McDermott acceptcharacterconstraint Change image and share on social
Our task as fiction writers isn't just to report something that didn't really happen. We have to give what we write a sense of reality. The tool of our tradition is language. Alice McDermott fictiongivehappen Change image and share on social
Much of my experience with language was formed in the church, which has an oral tradition. There are lots of repetitions in prayers and song refrains. There's a sense of incantation, that if you call not once and not twice but for a third time, the spirit appears. Alice McDermott appearcallchurch share on social
Most of the characters I write with don't think an awful lot about their faith. They're not always questioning the church or feeling confined by the church or rebelling against the church. Alice McDermott awfulcharacterchurch Change image and share on social
I've got to hear the rhythm of the sentences; I want the music of the prose. I want to see ordinary things transformed not by the circumstances in which I see them but by the language with which they're described. That's what I love when I read. Alice McDermott circumstancehavehear share on social
