62 Quotes by Paul Di Filippo

Science fiction at its best should be crazy and dangerous, not sane and safe.

As many authors have said, if the writer is not surprised by events, then chances are that the reader will not be either, and grow bored.

What had happened was this. When still young, I had gotten the idea from somewhere that I might be able to write... Maybe the deadly notion came from liking to read so much. Maybe I was in love with the image of being a writer. Whatever. It had been a really bad idea. Because I couldn't write, at least not by the bluntly and frequently expressed standards of anyone in a position to offer any encouragement and feedback.

The emotional tone or affect of the tale should be hot and engaged, not remote and dispassionate.

That was asking a lot of my readers, I realized, but I was trying to write the novel I would most enjoy decoding.

It was as unsatisfying as a handjob from someone wearing an oven mitt.

There must be a rule of thumb in pop-culture archaeology that states that the allure of any topic is inversely related to its assigned importance in the affairs of humanity. The more trivial the subject, the dearer it is to most of its partisans and the more worthy of scholarship. The smallest things in life often mean the most to people.

Only a minority of science fiction dystopias attempt to plumb the real existential roots of oppression, the flaws in humanity's nature that undermine our best attempts at organizing ourselves into social units.

Roald Dahl pioneered a new kind of literature for youngsters, one that dispensed with cant and solemnity, favoring anarchy and joy over duty and humbuggery while acknowledging that oftentimes no good deed goes unpunished. But ultimately, it was his sheer joie de vivre that carried the day.