The one thing you have to do if you write a book is put yourself in someone else's shoes. The reader's shoes. You've got to entertain them. Mark Haddon bookentertainhave Change image and share on social
Fiction that responds to recent world events is a hostage to fortune, because all momentous events look very different a year, two years, three years later. Mark Haddon eventfictionfortune Change image and share on social
I've come to realize that most good ideas are precisely the ones you can't describe. Mark Haddon describegoodhave Change image and share on social
I'm a writer! If you work in an office, it dampens you. It makes you fit a routine. The effect of being a writer is not dissimilar to being long-term unemployed. And everyone knows that is not good for you. Mark Haddon dampendissimilareffect share on social
Use your imagination, and you'll see that even the most narrow, humdrum lives are infinite in scope if you examine them with enough care. Mark Haddon careexaminehumdrum Change image and share on social
As a teenager, I was always this strange mixture of kind of vice-captain of the rugby team and sensitive artist type the rest of the time. I was sent away to this public school in the middle of nowhere, and I think we managed to completely miss out on normal youth culture. Mark Haddon artistcaptaincompletely share on social
Appalling things can happen to children. And even a happy childhood is filled with sadnesses. Mark Haddon appallchildchildhood Change image and share on social
I think Britain has this tradition which suggests that if you make the readers laugh too much, you can't really be serious. Whereas, I think one of the functions laughter can perform in a book, as in life, is that it's a reaction to genuine horror. Mark Haddon bookbritainfunction share on social
Obviously I have a capacity for feeling extreme anxiety, and there are people out there who don't. I'm to some extent rather jealous of them. Mark Haddon anxietycapacityextent Change image and share on social
There's something with the physical size of America... American writers can write about America and it can still feel like a foreign country. Mark Haddon americaamericancountry Change image and share on social
