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Jerome Charyn Quotes

Powerful Jerome Charyn for Daily Growth

About Jerome Charyn

Jerome Charyn (born February 15, 1937) is an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, children's author, and comic book writer whose prolific career spans over six decades. Born in the Bronx, New York City, Charyn grew up with a strong appreciation for literature, as his family owned a small library. This early exposure to books instilled in him a love for storytelling that would eventually become a cornerstone of his life's work. Charyn attended Columbia University on a scholarship and graduated Phi Beta Kappa before attending Yale Law School. However, he abandoned his legal career to pursue writing full-time. His literary influences are as diverse as his works, ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to William S. Burroughs. One of Charyn's most notable creations is Isaac Solo, a fictional detective who appears in several of his novels, including "The Yellow Birds," "I Am the Blues," and the highly acclaimed "Lambchop's Ladies." These works showcase Charyn's mastery of noir-style storytelling. Another significant series is his retellings of classic literary figures, such as Nick Carter in "Nick Carter & The Secret Service" and the Titan in "The Titan's Curse," where he offers fresh perspectives on these iconic characters. Charyn's writing transcends genre boundaries, encompassing both fiction and non-fiction. His works often deal with themes of identity, morality, and the complexities of human nature. Despite his diverse output, Charyn remains rooted in the urban landscapes that have shaped him, particularly New York City. Jerome Charyn continues to write and publish today, leaving a rich literary legacy that resonates with readers around the world. His work is marked by its originality, depth, and an unwavering commitment to storytelling.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Stories are rivers, letters from the dead."

This quote suggests that stories are a means of communication between people across time. Just as rivers carry water from one place to another, passing through different landscapes and eras, stories flow from their creators (the "dead") into the minds of readers or listeners, shaping them and leaving an enduring impact. Stories serve not only as entertainment but also as a medium for cultural transmission, preserving traditions, ideas, and values that shape our understanding of the world and ourselves.

"The past is a country we visit in our dreams."

This quote by Jerome Charyn signifies that the past, though gone, continues to have a profound impact on our lives as it often resurfaces in our subconscious mind through dreams. These dreams serve as virtual visits to the "country" of our past experiences, memories, and emotions. The past, hence, is not just a historical fact but a significant part of our personal narratives that shape who we are today.

"In a world that wants us to be one thing or another, it's the artists who refuse to cooperate."

This quote by Jerome Charyn emphasizes the uniqueness and non-conformity inherent in artistic expression. In a society that often categorizes and labels individuals, artists are those who resist these predefined roles and strive to create works that defy easy classification or definition. Their art serves as a testament to their authenticity, individuality, and the power of creative self-expression. This quote underscores the importance of artists in challenging societal norms and pushing boundaries, contributing to a more vibrant, diverse, and inclusive world.

"To live inside a story is to be free."

This quote suggests that engaging with stories - whether through reading, writing, or living them - offers us a sense of freedom. Stories provide context, purpose, and meaning, allowing us to step outside our immediate surroundings and experience different realities, perspectives, and possibilities. By immersing ourselves in narratives, we can momentarily escape the constraints of reality, exploring various paths, making choices, and learning lessons that enrich our personal growth and understanding of the world. Essentially, being inside a story provides us with the freedom to imagine, to learn, and to grow.

"We are all haunted by something, and the writer's job is to find out what."

This quote by Jerome Charyn suggests that every individual has personal struggles, fears, or emotional burdens they carry, which can be collectively referred to as 'hauntings.' The role of a writer is not only to tell stories but also to delve deep into the human condition, unearthing and exposing these hidden aspects that define and shape characters. By exploring and understanding the haunting elements in their work, writers provide insight into the human psyche and offer readers a chance to empathize, learn, and grow alongside the characters they create.

Compared with my brother, I always felt like Richard III, some clever humpbacked thing who surpassed him in the end. He was the one who read books, but I became the writer. He painted and drew, but I was the one who got accepted by the High School of Music and Art.

- Jerome Charyn

Some, Became, Painted, III

'Empire of Self' is a loving portrait of a very difficult man. Jay Parini, himself a gifted novelist, poet and biographer, has gone very deep into the 'black energy' of Gore Vidal's relentless narcissism and megalomania. Parini envisions an epic battle between Vidal's angelic and demonic sides, yet there's very little of the angel in Vidal.

- Jerome Charyn

Deep, Angel, Very, Novelist

'Suttree' is a fat one, a book with rude, startling power and a flood of talk. Much of it takes place on the Tennessee River, and Cormac McCarthy, who has written 'The Orchard Keeper' and other novels, gives us a sense of river life that reads like a doomed 'Huckleberry Finn.'

- Jerome Charyn

Life, Book, Other, Tennessee

Emily Dickinson has haunted my life - her poems, her persona, all the tales about her solitude. Ever since I discovered her in the seventh grade, I've had a crush on that spinster in white, who had such a heroic and startling inner landscape of her own.

- Jerome Charyn

My Life, Own, Discovered, Emily

Lincoln prevailed: wearing his green shawl in the White House and gripped with melancholy, his feet constantly cold, he preserved a nation that had begun to unravel, often holding it together with nothing more than the flat of his hand and his unfaltering sense of human worth.

- Jerome Charyn

Feet, Nation, Begun, Unravel

I can say without melodrama or malice that Hollywood ruined my life.

- Jerome Charyn

My Life, Say, Hollywood, Malice

I believe in monstrosities, and 'I Am Abraham' is a monstrosity of sorts, raveling out moment by moment with its contrapuntal songs, as if a band of musicians were at play, all of them with Lincoln's beard and disturbing grey eyes.

- Jerome Charyn

Musicians, Believe, Play, Abraham

It was difficult to find my way into 'I Am Abraham,' to feel confident enough to inhabit Lincoln's persona. I began with a prologue in a neutral voice, wrote of Lincoln at the White House with a sly young reporter quizzing him about his humble origins.

- Jerome Charyn

Humble, Voice, Sly, Abraham

What I find curious is that I ever became a writer at all. I grew up in the South Bronx, the land of poverty and petty hoodlums.

- Jerome Charyn

Curious, Became, South, Petty

We're the country of movie stars because the stars, like ourselves, represent a kind of extended infantilism, beauties waiting for the big chance.

- Jerome Charyn

Chance, Big, Country, Represent

Some readers may be disturbed that I wrote 'The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson' in Emily's own voice. I wasn't trying to steal her thunder or her music. I simply wanted to imagine my way into the head and heart of Emily Dickinson.

- Jerome Charyn

Voice, Some, Disturbed, Emily

Many of the writers I admire - Melville, Dickinson, Kafka - were virtually invisible during their lifetimes. Art, I think, often has to dance around in the void.

- Jerome Charyn

Art, Think, I Think, Lifetimes

I dreamed my way into Lincoln and the details that moved me - his lack of education or 'civilized' manners and his deep connection to all humankind.

- Jerome Charyn

Education, Deep, Civilized, Manners

Only a crazy man would write a novel in Lincoln's voice.

- Jerome Charyn

Voice, Only, Would, Lincoln

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