Quotes from Tom Perrotta

In his heart of hearts, Jack London knew that we can never build a fire. Not when we really need to.

I'd come to think of sex as this long dark tunnel that turns friends into strangers, strangers into friends.

she kept checking her e-mail every five minutes, carrying the phone everywhere she went, just in case he decided to get in touch while she was in the shower or the laundry room.

No one knows what love is, he told me. If someone says they do, they're full of shit.

If there was one thing that rankled about being a woman, it was this conviction, drummed into your head before you had a chance to defend yourself, that it was your job - your obligation- to always look your best, even in situations when you had no logical reason to care.

What about Clinton? I asked. He's pretty interesting. Ugh. Dad looked disgusted. That guy. He could stand out in the rain all day and not get wet.

Diane used to joke that I was getting in touch with my own inner asshole, but all I was really doing was claiming my American birthright. There's a sales professional lying dormant in each and every one of us, just waiting for a chance to blossom.

He'd gone through the first two decades of his life taking it for granted that everything would always be okay, that he could only fall so far before someone would catch him and set him back on his feet.

Stan and Rudy are grown men. It's too late to shape their minds, to teach them values and a sense of compassion. You have to do that when kids are young, before their personalities harden and they come to love their own ignorance.

Sure, there were other churches, churches where the busybody Pastor wouldn't make a house call to tell you you were going to hell, and wouldn't cry if you disappointed him. But what would be the point of belonging to one of them?

On reflection, though, it struck her as dishonest, like serving people ice cream on their first night at the fat farm. Hey, have some more hot fudge! You're gonna love it here at Camp Lose-a-Lot!

him reverse cowgirl-style

Detective stories are right about one thing, though: once you've committed a crime, nothing is simple. The whole world bends to your exposure. Before you know it, you're on the eleven o'clock news, wearing a jacket on your head.

Not that is was her job, but she took a few minutes to tidy up while she waited for Aimee. She knew how depressing it could be to wake up in a messy house, how it could make you feel like the new day was already old.

I've paid my dues," I told him. "I've learned a lot from Jack Weede, and from you, and I've formed strong working relationships throughout the building. With all due respect, I believe I'm the most qualified person to lead Green Meadow High School into the twenty-first century.

Nothing beats novel writing because it's complete expression of you. You just control everything. Not even a movie director has that level of control.

I used to describe myself as a comic novelist, but my concerns seem to have darkened over the past few years.

I have actual dreams of Bruce Springsteen calling me up on stage to wear a bandanna and play rhythm guitar next to Little Steven.

The few times I've tried to write original screenplays, it's a difficult process because I just don't feel like I know the characters the way I know them after the year or two it takes to write a novel.

I read 'The Great Gatsby' in high school and was hypnotized by the beauty of the sentences and moved by the story about the irrevocability of lost love.

I've been a little bit obsessed with religion, without being a religious person, for about a decade.

I have actual dreams of Bruce Springsteen calling me up on stage to wear a bandanna and play rhythm guitar next to Little Steven.

I think I'm fascinated by the power of religion in our culture. Like a lot of secular, liberal people, I ignored it for a long time. Lately, of course, just from a political perspective, it's impossible to ignore.

I don't really distinguish between sympathy and honesty when I'm writing. The two go together - I'm interested in inhabiting my characters, seeing the world through their eyes.