94 Quotes by Mary Gaitskill

Stories are the rich, unseen underlayer of the most ordinary moments.

If anything is scary about my writing, it's that it's the product of a very particular vision and doesn't reference common speech that heavily. By 'common speech,' I don't mean language as much as an agreed-on way of seeing, or a shorthand.

I remember back in the '90s, I used to feel criticized by women for not having children. Like there must be something wrong with me.

I've noticed women my age and a little younger, anywhere from 35 to 50, saying, 'Who would want to bring kids into a world like this?' Or, 'I don't want to spend my life that way. I want to do my artwork.' And they're very unapologetically stating this.

I think once you write fiction, you put it out, and it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, some of which are going to be shocking to the writer.

I think that's the real reason, sometimes, that people talk about my stories as being scary, because if you compare what goes on in my stories to what goes on in popular movies and popular songs, it's very mild.

I feel I'm often misunderstood by critics. People project a lot or exaggerate the subjective fragility simply because it's frightening to them.

You can't tell an 18-year-old to keep it down and turn off Britney Spears or whatever it is that they listen to.

I had a strong conviction that there was something out there in the world that was wonderful.