We're all well-acquainted with depression, we all know what the low moods are, but the mania was not something I knew much about. I didn't know that it would make someone dress extravagantly or start to pun, and to stay up and drink. Jeffrey Eugenides acquaintdepressiondress share on social
If you talk to geneticists they are constantly finding that your genes are being switched on and off because of the environment. Genes alone do not determine an exact path in your life. Jeffrey Eugenides constantlydetermineenvironment 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
The Pulitzer isn't a physical object. You can't hold it in your hand. You get some money ($7,500 in my day), and you get a little Tiffany's paperweight with your name on it and the image of Joseph Pulitzer suspended in the crystal. When people see my 'Pulitzer' (I keep it in my sock drawer), they are pretty amazed at its meagerness. Jeffrey Eugenides amazecrystalday share on social
When I wrote The Virgin Suicides, I gave myself very strict rules about the narrative voice: the boys would only be able to report what they had seen or found or what had been told to them. Jeffrey Eugenides boyfindgive Change image and share on social
I studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own. Jeffrey Eugenides centurycourseenglish share on social
It wasn't conscious, but I guess that one book is the reaction to the other. The first is so imprisoned in a male point-of-view, and the second is a point-of-view that can go anywhere it wants. Jeffrey Eugenides bookconsciousguess Change image and share on social
I'm not really an autobiographical writer, though I use lots of stuff from my life to make my stories seem real. But when I actually write about myself, I get very confused. Jeffrey Eugenides autobiographicalconfuselife Change image and share on social
I have a lot of novels that I haven't finished. I usually get 150 pages in and I realize it's not going anywhere. I don't publish everything I write. I must have six unfinished novels at least. Jeffrey Eugenides finishlotnovel 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