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
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