“What surprised me about 'The Casual Vacancy' was not just how good it ...” — Lev Grossman Quote

“What surprised me about 'The Casual Vacancy' was not just how good it was, but the particular way in which it was good.”

“Every year the literary press praises dozens if not hundreds of novels to the skies, asserting explicitly or implicitly that these books will probably not be suffering water damage in the basements of their authors' houses 20 years from now. But historically, anyway, that's not the way the novelistic ecology works.”

“It's a terrible thing for a book, when you feel like you're supposed to like it.”

“We want to create a kind of cycle where casual gamers are gradually growing up to become passionate players.”

“Usually men, usually a guy, a casual fan of maybe the NBA and somebody who then watches the WNBA, their instinct is quick to kind of size us up or put themselves against us.”

“I used to love going and playing jam sessions, doing things spontaneously. I can't do that anymore. Everything you do is documented, nothing is casual anymore.”