Quotes by Curtis Sittenfeld

About Curtis Sittenfeld:

Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld is an American writer. She is author of four novels: Prep, the tale of a Massachusetts prep school; The Man of My Dreams, a coming-of-age novel and an examination of romantic love; American Wife, a fictional story loosely based on the life of First Lady Laura Bush, Sisterland, which tells the story of identical twins with psychic powers, and the forthcoming Eligible, which is a contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice, as well as a number of short stories.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Foolish names and foolish faces often appear in public places.

Curtis Sittenfeld

There was a way in which my grandmother's true self was not these guests' business; no one's true self was the business of more than a very small number of family members or close friends.

Curtis Sittenfeld

I had the fleeting thought then that we are each of us pathetic in one way or another, and the trick is to marry a person whose patheticness you can tolerate.

Curtis Sittenfeld

The fact is that in this day and age I don't think any novelist can assume that a book will get attention.

Curtis Sittenfeld

All things being equal, why not be married to a rich man? (Somewhere, Hannah thinks, there must be a needlepoint pillow asking this very question in a cleverer way.)

Curtis Sittenfeld

Perhaps this is how you know you're doing the thing you're intended to: No matter how slow or how slight your progress, you never feel that it's a waste of time.

Curtis Sittenfeld

you know what her punishment is for tormenting you way back when?" he said. I looked at him. He said, "her punishment is being her,

Curtis Sittenfeld

Children are nothing but a problem people create and then congratulate themselves on solving.

Curtis Sittenfeld

You don't make waves unless there's a reason, and it better be good. Because once you do, that's it. You're a trouble make, and they never think of you any other way.

Curtis Sittenfeld

..and I thought how liking a boy was just the same as believing you wanted to know a secret - everything was better when you were denied and could feel tormented by curiousity or loneliness. But the moment of something happening was treacherous. It w...

Curtis Sittenfeld

I heard Gillian say, with a laugh, “At this point, does anyone expect the liberals not to be total hypocrites?” She was oblivious to the possibility that perhaps not everyone present shared her views, and I thought, You’re sixteen. How can you ...

Curtis Sittenfeld

We have to make mistakes, it's how we learn compassion for others.

Curtis Sittenfeld

She has always been a bystander in family destruction, never realizing she herself possessed the capacity to inflict it.

Curtis Sittenfeld

I wanted to hold happiness in reserve, like a bottle of champagne. I postponed it because I was afraid, because I overvalued it, and then I didn't want to use it up, because what do you wish for then?

Curtis Sittenfeld

My boarding school experience was the only thing I had strong enough feelings to write about for hundreds and hundreds of pages. I can still smell the formaldehyde of the fetal pigs in biology.

Curtis Sittenfeld

People who think my books are autobiographical, which they're not, credit me with having a much better memory than I do. I do, however, have a powerful imagination.

Curtis Sittenfeld

Well, I think that if you sincerely try to imagine what life is like for another person - not in a mocking way, not in a satirical way, but in a sincere, compassionate way - I don't think that's exploitive.

Curtis Sittenfeld

I don't really have special rituals, but I don't try to write fiction unless I have a minimum of a few hours. For me, it takes a while to settle into a mode where I'm truly concentrating.

Curtis Sittenfeld

I have this theory that the likeability question comes up so much more with female characters created by female authors than it does with male characters and male authors.

Curtis Sittenfeld

It's never that hard for me to imagine what it must feel like to be someone else, whether it's an American teenage girl or a Japanese octogenarian man.

Curtis Sittenfeld

Author Bio

  • NameCurtis Sittenfeld
  • DescriptionNovelist, short story writer
  • Born1975
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionAuthor; Novelist; Teacher