We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language. Joyce Carol Oates bloodlanguagelink Change image and share on social
Yes, I've listened to just a few audiobooks - but hope to listen to more. I've wanted to investigate how my own books sound in this format and find the experience of listening, and not reading, quite fascinating. Joyce Carol Oates audiobookbookexperience share on social
My role models were childless: Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, George Eliot, the Brontes. Joyce Carol Oates austenbrontechildless Change image and share on social
As a child. I grew up on a small farm, so I did a lot of drawings of animals, chickens and people. At the bottom of every page, I'd put a strange scribble. I was emulating adult handwriting, though I didn't actually know how to write. Joyce Carol Oates adultanimalbottom share on social
My grandmother could never have written a memoir, so 'The Gravedigger's Daughter' is a homage to her life, and to the lives of other young women of her generation, which are so rarely articulated. Joyce Carol Oates articulatedaughtergeneration Change image and share on social
I remember once asking Grandma about a book she was reading, a biography of Abraham Lincoln, and how she answered me: this was the first conversation of my life that concerned a book, and 'the life of the mind' - and now, such subjects have become my life. Joyce Carol Oates abrahamanswerbiography share on social
Most people think that a widow is inhabiting some elegiac world of - it's like Mozart's 'Requiem Mass.' You know, it's very beautiful and elevated thoughts and some measure of dignity. I didn't have that experience at all. I had one pratfall after another. Joyce Carol Oates beautifuldignityelegiac share on social
If you're living with a scientist, you see the world differently than you do with a humanist. It's in some ways very subtle, the differences in perceiving reality. Joyce Carol Oates differencedifferentlyhumanist Change image and share on social
Probably nothing serious or worthwhile can be accomplished without one's willingness to be alone for sustained periods of time, which is not to say that one must live alone, obsessively. Joyce Carol Oates accomplishliveobsessively Change image and share on social
We are stimulated to emotional response, not by works that confirm our sense of the world, but by works that challenge it. Joyce Carol Oates challengeconfirmemotional Change image and share on social
