I have to have a character worth caring about. I tend not to start writing books about people I don't have a lot of sympathy for because I'm just going to be with them too long. Richard Russo bookcarecharacter Change image and share on social
I was pretty dead set against ever writing an academic novel. It's always been my view that there are already more than enough academic novels and that most of them aren't any good. Most of them are self-conscious and bitter, the work of people who want to settle grudges. Richard Russo academicbitterconscious share on social
My dad had this rock hard body and would work 12- to 13-hour days. The guys he worked with were scrap-iron guys. Nobody on that road crew had read a book in 10 years, but there was something about the way they lived I really admired. Richard Russo admirebodybook share on social
If you work at comedy too laboriously, you can kill what's funny in the joke. Richard Russo comedyfunnyjoke Change image and share on social
What comes easiest for me is dialogue. Sometimes when my characters are speaking to me, I have to slow them down so that I'm not simply taking dictation. Richard Russo characterdialoguedictation Change image and share on social
People in small towns, much more than in cities, share a destiny. Richard Russo citydestinypeople Change image and share on social
Cary Grant never won an Oscar, primarily, I suspect, because he made everything look so effortless. Why reward someone for having fun, for being charming? Richard Russo carycharmeffortless Change image and share on social
I get and read an enormous number of first novels. Richard Russo enormousnovelnumb Change image and share on social
A lot of my characters in all of my books have a self-destructive urge. They'll do precisely the thing that they know is wrong, take a perverse delight in doing the wrong thing. Richard Russo bookcharacterdelight Change image and share on social
If my career continues along its current arc, people will probably look at me and see a writer who is obsessed with the relationship between rich and poor and with how the rich somehow or other always manage to betray the poor, even when they don't mean to. Richard Russo arcbetraycareer share on social