Author Lawrence Wright interviewed by Nicholas O’Connell of The Writer’s Workshop about his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Looming Tower, (2006) about the events leading up to 9/11, the novel, The End of October, (2020) about a fictional plague, and recently, “The Pandemic Year,” a nonfiction piece in The New Yorker about COVID-19 which he’s turning into a book of the same name.
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
Mark Twain
The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
Jane Austen
“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”
Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.
Barbara Kingsolver
Ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Hi Nick,
I really enjoyed the interview with Lawrence Wright. I was particularly struck when he stated that October 1918 was the deadliest month in US history until now. Why? My maternal grandmother, a young woman of 30 years, died in October 1918. In my memoir, Limina, I speculate that the pandemic was the cause of her death. My father was 8 years old and had no idea why his mother died. There was no one else to ask. I’ve never met her. This was a great listen.
Hi Alberta,
Glad you enjoyed it! Such an insightful writer.
Best,
Nick
Hi Alberta,
Glad you enjoyed it! A very insightful writer.
Best,
Nick