Quotes by Alice McDermott

"What interests me is whatever it is that allows the heart to continue to yearn for something the intelligence knows is impossible to have: a lost love, a shelter from life's blows, the return of a time past, even a connection to the dead."

Share Copy

"In grammar school I read 'Act One' by Moss Hart, and being a playwright struck me as the most magical and romantic career anyone could have... But I never did write a play."

Share Copy

"I like that original romance of having a pen and a legal pad and going anywhere in the world and being able to write a novel with just those two things."

Share Copy

"I read a little bit of nonfiction and a lot of poetry. I think of poetry as my shot of whiskey when I don't have time to savor a whole bottle of wine."

Share Copy

"The language of the Catholic Church - the liturgy, the prayer, the gospels - was in many ways my first poetry."

Share Copy