When somebody’s face-to-face with you saying, ‘I may not have been here had I not read your book,’ how do you respond to that? The first several times I traveled, it was almost too much. I was totally grateful, but emotionally, it was really hard. Jay Asher Read Quote
Looking back, I do think one of the reasons ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ has been so successful is not because it deals with serious issues but because I had a unique and interesting way to tell that story. I knew the issues were going to be dealt with in the book, but I felt my job was to write the story as entertainingly as possible. Jay Asher Read Quote
I thought I was going to be known for my humor. But then I had an idea for a story, which was absolutely not humorous. But, of course, that’s the one that sells and becomes big. Jay Asher Read Quote
What you hear mostly people gripe about adaptations is, ‘They took out this scene,’ or, ‘They had to condense these characters.’ I understand why they have to do that. But if you had a favorite character, and now they’ve been melded together with another one, it’s disappointing. Jay Asher Read Quote
There’s no way to know exactly what someone’s dealing with, no matter how open you are. You’re just never going to know everything. Jay Asher Read Quote
I think there’s always room for humor, especially when you’re talking about really serious issues. Jay Asher Read Quote
Fiction is an easy way to talk about issues: I think it feels less preachy. You can have the students discuss characters in the book as opposed to hypothetical situations, or as opposed to opening up about themselves, unless they really want to. Jay Asher Read Quote
One of the things I found is that no matter where in the country – poor communities, rich communities – everybody deals with very similar issues of bullying. It’s pretty widespread. Jay Asher Read Quote
I don’t know anything about bullying in Huntington Beach specifically, but I would assume it’s very similar to other places. Jay Asher Read Quote
