“A reader’s favorite subject is the reader.”
Derek Thompson • Hit Makers
Saved by Nicola Lombardi and
“A reader’s favorite subject is the reader.”
Many of us form profound attachments when we read. Sometimes we attach ourselves to characters, imagining them as our friends or lovers or most profound enemies; sometimes a book’s author draws us, perhaps because of a persona he or she projects, perhaps—especially if we are writers or would-be writers ourselves—because we admire and envy.
Alan Jacobs • The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction
“The best moments in reading are when you come across something—a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things—that you’d thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it’s as if a hand has come out and taken yours.”
Ruby LaRocca • A Constitution for Teenage Happiness
“The point of books is to combat loneliness” — David Foster Wallace
Good stories are explorations of the human condition; thrilling voyages into foreign minds.
Will Storr • The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better
My favorite books give me a new type of X-ray vision. They teach me how to see new layers of the world I didn’t understand or even notice before.
Eric Jorgenson • The Anthology of Balaji: A Guide to Technology, Truth, and Building the Future
Did you know as a child you wanted to be a writer?
No. I wanted to be a reader. I thought everything that needed to be written had already been written or would be. I only wrote the first book because I thought it wasn’t there, and I wanted to read it when I got through. I am a pretty good reader. I love it. It is what I do, really. So, if I can re... See more
Farnam Street • Toni Morrison — Good, but never simple
There is one topic that people care more about than any other: themselves. Pick story topics that your listeners will relate to. If