“'War and Peace' holds a strange place in literary history, participati...” — Alexander Chee Quote

“'War and Peace' holds a strange place in literary history, participating in the crowning of realism as a substantial and serious literary mode in America, even as the novel also contributed to the argument that historical fiction could be by nature dangerous, illegitimate, and inaccurate.”

“I met my first boyfriend when we were 13, playing 'Dungeons and Dragons' in the basement of my local comics shop. We were from the same small town in Maine but went to different schools.”

“I had been in a professional boys' choir, and as a boy soprano, you're aware that your voice has an expiration date.”

“Acadia was founded in 1916 by Woodrow Wilson as the first Eastern national park, aided by rich men, often with middle initials, the 'rusticators,' as they were known then, the first of our wealthy out-of-state visitors.”

“The best relatively contemporary portrayal of a courtesan that I've ever seen was probably in 'Children of Paradise,' a film that was made during the Nazi occupation of France, made in secret actually.”

“Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back.”

“In fact history does not belong to us; but we belong to it.”

“That human behavior is more influenced by things outside of us than inside. The 'situation' is the external environment. The inner environment is genes, moral history, religious training.”

“What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?”

“Today is either the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning. Today we are making history.”

“Anti-racism teachings and world history must coexist and complement each other.”