Ann Beattie People Quotations

You have to figure out who the right person is to tell the story. And often, people who are very self-aware will only sound as if they are pontificating if they tell the story.

I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere, the visual imagery, and then I people it with characters, not the other way around.

I don't even correct people when they mispronounce my name now.

It's not about having things figured out, or about communicating with other people, trying to make them understand what you understand. It's about a chicken dinner at a drive-in. A soft pillow. Things that don't need explaining.

Clichés so often befall vain people.

People forget years and remember moments.

I like the notion that people are appreciative of the fact that my work is sometimes allusive and that there is an interrelationship of the arts.