Quotes by Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta

A screenwriter heard me read from my novel ‘The Wishbones’ when it was still in progress and mentioned me to some producers in Hollywood. They called, and I told them I had a novel in my drawer about a high school election that goes haywire. They asked to take a look, and my life changed pretty dramatically as a result.

Life Changing

Progress

School

After all, what was adult life but one moment of weakness piled on top of another? Most people just fell in line like obedient little children, doing exactly what society expected of them at any given moment, all the while pretending that they’d actually made some sort of choice.

Children

Choices

People

Apparently even the most awful tragedies, and the people they’d ruined, got a little stale after a while.

Littles

People

Tragedy

I don’t really distinguish between sympathy and honesty when I’m writing. The two go together – I’m interested in inhabiting my characters, seeing the world through their eyes.

Eye

Honesty

Sympathy

I have actual dreams of Bruce Springsteen calling me up on stage to wear a bandanna and play rhythm guitar next to Little Steven.

Dream

Guitar

Play

I no longer believe that just about everything is funny, if viewed from the proper angle.

Angle

Believe

Ifs

I think I was always writing books that had very clear scenic structures. I do tend to write in scenes. I do tend to have a fair amount of dialogue. And I do tend to use stories that don’t sprawl all over the place, that have a very sharp focus in terms of how they unfold in time.

Book

Thinking

Writing

I think I’m fascinated by the power of religion in our culture. Like a lot of secular, liberal people, I ignored it for a long time. Lately, of course, just from a political perspective, it’s impossible to ignore.

People

Perspective

Thinking

I used to describe myself as a comic novelist, but my concerns seem to have darkened over the past few years.

Novelists

Past

Years

I was a garbage man in New Jersey in summers during college at Yale. Everybody else got to go to Switzerland and I got to go to the dump.

College

Men

Summer

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Alternatives

Angle

Art

Being Yourself

Believe

Body

Book

Broken

Cheating

Children

Choices

Church

College

Cute

Directors

Drama

Dream

Encounters

Expression

Eye

Football

Forever

Frodo

Girl

Grace

Growing Up

Guitar

Happened

Honesty

Hunger

Hurt

Ifs

Inspiration

Inspirational

Instinct

Invisible

Lessons

Life

Life Changing

Littles

Looks

Lord

Men

Mind

Morning

Motivational

Moving

Novelists

Obsessed

Pain

The Future Blueprint

Tool

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

Tool

The Autobiography

Tool

The Behaviour Diary

Tool

The Dating Diary

Tool

The Relationship Therapist

Tool

Quotes by Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta

After all, what was adult life but one moment of weakness piled on top of another? Most people just fell in line like obedient little children, doing exactly what society expected of them at any given moment, all the while pretending that they’d actually made some sort of choice.

Apparently even the most awful tragedies, and the people they’d ruined, got a little stale after a while.

I don’t really distinguish between sympathy and honesty when I’m writing. The two go together – I’m interested in inhabiting my characters, seeing the world through their eyes.

I have actual dreams of Bruce Springsteen calling me up on stage to wear a bandanna and play rhythm guitar next to Little Steven.

I no longer believe that just about everything is funny, if viewed from the proper angle.

I think I was always writing books that had very clear scenic structures. I do tend to write in scenes. I do tend to have a fair amount of dialogue. And I do tend to use stories that don’t sprawl all over the place, that have a very sharp focus in terms of how they unfold in time.

I think I’m fascinated by the power of religion in our culture. Like a lot of secular, liberal people, I ignored it for a long time. Lately, of course, just from a political perspective, it’s impossible to ignore.

I used to describe myself as a comic novelist, but my concerns seem to have darkened over the past few years.

I was a garbage man in New Jersey in summers during college at Yale. Everybody else got to go to Switzerland and I got to go to the dump.

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Topics by Tom Perrotta

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The Future Blueprint

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

The Autobiography

The Behaviour Diary

The Dating Diary

The Relationship Therapist

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