“THE WORLD IS NOT REVOLVING AROUND YOU. OR IT’S REVOLVING AROUND YOU FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER REVOLUTIONS GOING ON AT THE SAME TIME.”

Things not always necessary in fiction-writing:

First drafts

Buddhist meditation

Weight

Scenes

The mechanics of sex

When something awful happens, people often say that it builds character. More often than not, though, those who endure tragedies and disappointments are likely to become aggrieved, self-pitying, and sometimes vengeful. So it’s a relief to read Joan Silber’s stories, which have an almost godlike perspective on suffering, both self-inflicted and otherwise. Her characters endure pain, but neither the characters nor the story seems to luxuriate in that pain. Silber spent most of her teens looking after her sick mother, who died when Silber was in her twenties. In surviving adversity and loss, Silber herself has developed the kind of character many of us would kill for: apparently endless cheerful helpfulness and patience, a focus on the world around her, a complete lack of self-importance. Silber’s writing has a clean, brisk authority that doesn’t linger to congratulate itself over either its insight or its wonderful details. “Time is moving,” these stories seem to say, “so let’s get on with it while we still can.”

(Click link below for the interview)