111 Quotes by Jonathan Ames

Don’t hold me to anything in the book. I’m a waffler. I like wafflers. They said John Kerry was a waffler, but I admired him for that – showed he could change his mind.

I was aware that I was acting atrociously but I couldn’t stop myself. Rarely had I behaved in such a manner. But I guess when we’re feeling lonely in life, we attack those who actually do love us. It’s one of the things that characterizes human nature and can be summed up in one word: FLAWED.

I don’t really recognise success. I don’t see myself as on an upwardly mobile trajectory. I see myself as on the edge of a cliff about to fall off.

Then again, the name, the associations with a writer’s name, can add to the reader’s entertainment and pleasure.

For me, the past is dead. Can’t go back.

I grew up in northern New Jersey – the banlieue of New York – and I now live in Brooklyn. I am separated from my parents by about 50 miles, but really there is almost no distance between us. I speak to them nearly every day.

There was a naughty grin on her face and she said, “Wait. You’ll get an erection and then what will I do?

I’ve always been inspired by Don Quixote as a role model of sorts, of the power of books to sort of make you insane in maybe a beautiful way.

It’s hard to leave New York: this is where my friends are, my parents are. It is so vital. The whole world seems to look to New York.