Category Archives: Quotations

Things people said.

Julian Schnabel: Rudimentary Concerns

Posted on October 10, 2018 by JMN

“What the surface of a painting can be is an obsession of mine,” Mr. Schnabel said. “If you see how the plate paintings function, it’s very three-dimensional, both physically and spatially. I like dealing with physical problems and rudimentary concerns … Continue reading →

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Dystopia Myopia

Posted on October 10, 2018 by JMN

Quotation of the Day One of the things about looking at the world through a feminist lens is that we are already in a dystopia. — Leni Zumas, author of “Red Clocks,” part of a growing canon of female-written dystopian … Continue reading →

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Leonardo’s Weird Faces

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

[All images are from Frank Zöllner, “Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings,” Taschen] [Leonardo’s] drawings often of men and women with strangely deformed or exaggerated features — which he called “visi mostruosi,” or “monstrous faces,” and which scholars … Continue reading →

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The Scream

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

There was a time I literally screamed in my own dining room, about something that didn’t warrant such a scream… It was so — to use a word I use a lot in my first book — *inappropriate*. There were … Continue reading →

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Meatballs and Mothers

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

Quotation of the Day “There were a lot of things being said about my mother that day, a lot of it bad stuff and depressing. But the best one was ‘Hey, Canha, your mother’s meatballs aren’t that good.’ ” — Mark … Continue reading →

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Fiction’s Mission

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

[Quotation from a 1993 interview of David Foster Wallace, one of several that Michael Schur, creator of sitcom “The Good Place,” keeps in his office.] Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid … Continue reading →

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There’ll Always Be a Japan

Posted on October 3, 2018 by JMN

Ogata was speaking at the podium when the chairman, Shinya Kutsuki, asked her if she had something in her mouth. She explained that she was sucking a lozenge because she was suffering from a cold and did not want to … Continue reading →

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Boosler, Eisenberg, Cage, Aznavour, Hockney

Posted on October 3, 2018 by JMN

Men, she sighs, expect her to cook breakfast the morning after sex. “They want things like toast,” she says, exasperated. “I don’t have these recipes.” (Jason Zinoman, “The Comedy Master Who Hasn’t Gotten Her Due: Elayne Boosler,” NYTimes, 10-1-18) “I … Continue reading →

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Yo-Yo Ma, America’s Cellist

Posted on September 28, 2018 by JMN

And what Mr. Ma plays at moments like those [i.e. historic occasions], to make us cry and then soothe us, is, more often than not, a selection from the Bach cello suites. These six works are the Everest of his … Continue reading →

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William Faulkner Loved Mysteries

Posted on September 25, 2018 by JMN

Faulkner rarely discussed his love of mysteries, perhaps considering them lowbrow, but he seemed to understand their importance to his writing. A friend recalled visiting a library with him, so Faulkner could “exchange a stack of mystery stories for a … Continue reading →

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