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
I always work in a room where there's no Internet to keep from being distracted so easily. Jeffrey Eugenides distracteasilyinternet Change image and share on social
I spend most of every day writing. I like to write every day if I can. I don't start extremely early. Jeffrey Eugenides dayearlyextremely 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
I have a good memory for early life. My visual memory is good about childhood and adolescence, and less good in the last 10 years. I could probably tell you less what happened in the last 10 years. I remember what houses looked like, sometimes they just pop into my head. Jeffrey Eugenides adolescencechildhoodearly share on social
I was unemployable when I got out of college. Jeffrey Eugenides collegeunemployable 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
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
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 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