If American literature has a few heroes, Miller is one of them. He refused to name names at the McCarthy hearings, and his play ‘The Crucible’ analysed the hearings in the context of a previous American mass psychosis, the Salem witch trials. Jane Smiley Read Quote
Ape House’ is an ambitious novel in several ways, for which it is to be admired, and it is certainly an easy read, but because Gruen is not quite prepared for the philosophical implications of her subject, it is not as deeply involving emotionally or as interesting thematically as it could be. Jane Smiley Read Quote
There are several methods for introducing your children to driving, and all of them are bad. Probably the worst is to put it off. Jane Smiley Read Quote
I have reared, or helped to rear, five children and the scariest bit, bar none, is the learning-to-drive part. It has filled me with anxiety not only about the children, but also about my former self and my friends. Jane Smiley Read Quote
Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states. Jane Smiley Read Quote
Sinclair Lewis may be ripe for a revival; his books raise several interesting issues of art and fashion. Jane Smiley Read Quote
Some novelists are luckier than others in the eras of their formative intellectual years, but all Weltanschauungs return, which means that most novelists have at least a chance of a revival. Jane Smiley Read Quote
The Good Soldier’ is an odd and maybe even unique book. That it is a masterpiece, almost a perfect novel, comes as a repeated surprise even to readers who have read it before. Jane Smiley Read Quote
