“I have been shown so much kindness in my life, so for me to write book...” — Ann Patchett Quote

“I have been shown so much kindness in my life, so for me to write books about good, kind people seems completely natural.”

“You see an absolutely brilliant film later, as an adult, and you walk out thinking about what to have for dinner. Whereas something like Jaws winds up having a huge effect on me. If only my parents had been taking me to Kurosawa films when I was eight, but no.”

“I go through long periods of time when I don't write, and I'm fine.”

“The most difficult book I wrote was the fourth in a series of linked children's books. It was like pulling teeth because the publisher wanted exactly the same but completely different. I'd much rather just do something completely different, even if there's a risk of it going wrong.”

“Serial fiction is a conceit of comic books and soap operas. As one goes, so goes the other in terms of public consciousness.”

“If I'm researching something strange and rococo, I'll go to the London Library or the British Library and look it up in books.”