59 Quotes by Gay Talese

I am writing about people who are alive in the city of New York during mid-20th-century America. And these people are like a character in a play or they are figures in a short story or a novel

For example, many colleges in their writing programs teach some of my work

Thirteen years I took on this last book.

With all of the qualities of the scene-setting, the dialogue, the place and time and the time and place in which your characters move. And I want to move with the characters, move with them and describe the world in which they are living.

Restaurants are a wonderful escape for me. And are for a lot of people

Nonfiction takes no liberty with the facts. The trouble with book publishers is that they don't have the staff or they don't want to have the staff to ensure the veracity of a writer. ... My wife is going to hate me for this, but that is what I believe.

He was a true showman. He had not only the talent, but he had the ability to promote that talent. That's one reason why I think he's still relevant after all these years.

He was a sex junkie with an insatiable habit.

I write non-fiction, and he didn't influence me. He was one of the great writers, but I don't know that he influenced a generation.