Richard Russo's Quotes

You just kind of have faith. If that sounds kind of mystical, it's because I really don't know how it works, but I trust that it does. I try to write the way I read, in order to find out what happens next.

I think that if people are instructed about anything, it should be about the nature of cruelty. And about why people behave so cruelly to each other. And what kind of satisfactions they derive from it. And why there is always a cost, and a price to be paid.

I think a lot of what is going on with kids who get pushed too far and attempt either murder or suicide is that they are trying to deal with their own non-existence for the people who are supposed to care most for them.

Cary Grant never won an Oscar, primarily, I suspect, because he made everything look so effortless. Why reward someone for having fun, for being charming?

I don't think there's a shortage of material in the world. Or in my head. I just pray for continued good health, because I've got other stories to tell.

At the risk of appearing disingenuous, I don't really think of myself as 'writing humor.' I'm simply reporting on the world I observe, which is frequently hilarious.

I have to have a character worth caring about. I tend not to start writing books about people I don't have a lot of sympathy for because I'm just going to be with them too long.

I want that which is hilarious and that which is heartbreaking to occupy the same territory in the book because I think they very often occupy the same territory in life, much as we try to separate them.

A short story is something that I think can be intuited and envisioned and held in your mind almost at once.

America has always been a nation of small places, and as we lose them, we're losing part of ourselves.

Even at its most perceptive, sociology deals in abstractions.

HBO is really famous for hiring good people and staying out of their way until they ask for help, or need it. And that reputation is earned.

I can be glib and truthful all at once.

I don't think America has ever had a center the way London is the center of England or Dublin is the center of Ireland.

I get and read an enormous number of first novels.

I read pretty voraciously. If it's good, I don't care what it is.

I suppose all writers worry about the well running dry.

I think it would be harder for me not to write comedy because the comic view of things is the one that comes most naturally to me.

I think the darker aspect of my fiction-or anybody's fiction-is by its very nature somehow easier to talk about.

I'm delighted by how Nobody's Fool turned out. It was a rare movie.

I've never written nearly as much about place as people seem to think I do. I just write about class.

If there's an enduring theme in my work, it's probably the effects of class on American life.

If you work at comedy too laboriously, you can kill what's funny in the joke.

It's no secret that in my books I'm trying to make the comic and the serious rub up against each other just as closely and uncomfortably as I can.

Movies have to handle time very efficiently. They're about stringing scenes together in the present. Novels aren't necessarily about that.

Not everyone writes well from a child's point of view.

After that I couldn't show my face outside. I lost my identity and balance. I was still living with my parents, and they were my only friends. For so many people, this thing with the nurse was confirmation that I must be mad or mentally ill.

I don't have my pilot's licence anymore, but I'm still very political.

I ended up injuring her with a knife I had on me. I can't really remember what happened.

I got my private pilot's license in autumn 1986.

I had thought about landing in the Kremlin, but there wasn't enough space.

I moved away for three years and went to Trinidad where I met my wife, Athena.

I now work for a finance company in Luxembourg with projects in South America and the Caribbean.

I regret what happened. I saw no other possibility to achieve my goal. It was not hooliganism.

I wanted to choose somewhere public, because I was scared of the KGB.

Imprisonment hit me so hard - much harder than I had thought.

My parents came to visit every two months and brought plenty of books.

My plan was to land in Red Square, but there were too many people and I thought I'd cause casualties.

The defence and air defence ministers were both replaced and more than 2,000 officers lost their jobs.

I approached Red Square three times, trying to find somewhere to land, before discovering a wide bridge nearby. I landed there and taxied into Red Square.

I didn't tell anybody about my plan because I was convinced my family or friends would stop me. I didn't think much about what would happen afterwards.

I had one companion. He was a teacher from the Ukraine who spoke English so we could communicate a bit. I learnt a few Russian words, but it was hard to concentrate.

My parents were angry, but they were relieved that I was in good condition. They had been afraid the Russians would torture me. They told me not to do it again!

Once this key conflict is eased, it will have a huge impact on the world. It will take time to find a solution. It's similar to the situation between East and the West at the time of my flight.

You have to be young to be able to do things like that. Now I'm more cautious. I'm proud that I was able to do what I did - psychologically it was a great wall to climb - but sometimes I regret it.