The vehemence with which certain critics have chosen not simply to criticize what I've written, but to challenge my writing this story at all, speaks of what the book is about: fear of disapproval.
- Joyce Maynard
Book, About, Which, Disapproval
Some literary types subscribe to the notion that being a writer like Salinger entitles a person to remain free of the standards that might apply to mere mortals.
- Joyce Maynard
Some, Subscribe, Types, Mortals
It troubles me that people speak about writing for money as ugly and distasteful.
- Joyce Maynard
Money, Writing, Me, Distasteful
The big dramas that fascinate me are the quiet ones that happen behind closed doors in so-called ordinary families.
- Joyce Maynard
Big, Behind, Happen, Dramas
Women writers have been told, forever, that our stories were not valuable. Not as valuable as men's stories about wars, business, power.
- Joyce Maynard
Business, Been, Stories, Women Writers
I had known there had been a serial killer on Mount Tamalpais, and it felt so incongruous in such a beautiful, peaceful spot.
- Joyce Maynard
Been, Had, Felt, Mount
Nothing like being visible, publishing one's work, and speaking openly about one's life, to disabuse the world of the illusion of one's perfection and purity.
- Joyce Maynard
Purity, Like, Visible, Perfection
I have long observed that the act of writing is viewed, by some, as an elite and otherworldly act, all the more so if a person isn't paid for what she writes.
- Joyce Maynard
Long, More, Some, Writes
Growing up in the fifties and sixties, I can only remember knowing one child, ever, whose parents got a divorce, and hardly any whose mother 'worked' at anything besides raising her children.
- Joyce Maynard
Anything, I Can, Got, Hardly
There is a theme that runs through my work, and that is: the toxic property of keeping secrets.
- Joyce Maynard
Through, Toxic, Keeping, Runs
The portrait of my parents is a complicated one, but lovingly drawn.
- Joyce Maynard
Portrait, Complicated, Drawn, Lovingly
Although Salinger had long since cut me out of his life completely and made it plain that he had nothing but contempt for me, the thought of becoming the object of his wrath was more than I felt ready to take on.
- Joyce Maynard
Thought, Becoming, Cut, Wrath
If a man wishes to truly not be written about, he would do well not to write letters to 18-year-old girls, inviting them into his life.
- Joyce Maynard
Inviting, About, Them, Letters
Not only did I avoid speaking of Salinger; I resisted thinking about him. I did not reread his letters to me. The experience had been too painful.
- Joyce Maynard
Been, About, Had, Letters
I wonder what it is that the people who criticize me for telling this story truly object to: is it that I have dared to tell the story? Or that the story turns out not to be the one they wanted to hear?
- Joyce Maynard
People, Tell, Telling, Dared
A person who deserves my loyalty receives it.
- Joyce Maynard
Loyalty, Person, Deserves, Receives
A good home must be made, not bought. In the end, it's not track lighting or a sun room that brings light into a kitchen.
- Joyce Maynard
Lighting, Made, Bought, Kitchen
The painter who feels obligated to depict his subjects as uniformly beautiful or handsome and without flaws will fall short of making art.
- Joyce Maynard
Handsome, Making, Feels, Flaws
I do not outline. There are writers I know and count as my friends who certainly do it the other way, but for me, part of the adventure is not knowing how it's going to turn out.
- Joyce Maynard
Other, Going, Certainly, Not Knowing
I think of myself as a realistic writer, not a creator of soap opera or melodrama.
- Joyce Maynard
Think, Creator, I Think, Melodrama
I've had some wonderful successes and some extreme disappointments in my career and my life.
- Joyce Maynard
My Life, Career, Some, Disappointments
I was giving a speech one time, and the woman who introduced me said, 'Well, she used to be J. D. Salinger's girlfriend. I thought, 'God, is that all I've been?' I didn't want to be reduced to that.
- Joyce Maynard
Woman, Thought, Been, One Time
I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves.
- Joyce Maynard
Young Women, Still, Forming, Encouragement
If I told you about all the stories I don't tell, I would be violating the very boundaries I set for myself.
- Joyce Maynard
Very, Stories, Set, Violating
At Home in the World is the story of a young woman, raised in some difficult circumstances, and how she survives. It tells a story of redemption, not victimhood.
- Joyce Maynard
Woman, Circumstances, Some, Young Woman
Long after Salinger sent me away, I continued to believe his standards and expectations were the best ones.
- Joyce Maynard
Best, Believe, Away, Salinger
Teach a child to play solitaire, and she'll be able to entertain herself when there's no one around. Teach her tennis, and she'll know what to do when she's on a court. But raise her to feel comfortable in nature, and the whole planet is her home.
- Joyce Maynard
Nature, Play, Entertain, Herself
For 25 years, I did take my responsibilities as a pleaser of others sufficiently seriously.
- Joyce Maynard
Take, Responsibilities, Pleaser
When people ask what I write about, that's what I tell them: 'The drama of human relationships.' I'm not even close to running out of material.
- Joyce Maynard
Tell, I Write, About, Close
It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.
- Joyce Maynard
Reach, Tell, Our, Parents
I compromised my ability to tell my story, at the most basic level.
- Joyce Maynard
Tell, Level, Most, Compromised
More than any other setting - more than battlefields or boardrooms or a spaceship headed for intergalactic travel - I'll put my money on the family to provide an endless source of comedy, tragedy and intrigue.
- Joyce Maynard
More, Other, Intrigue, Spaceship
I believe every one of us possesses a fundamental right to tell our own story.
- Joyce Maynard
Own, Tell, Fundamental, Possesses
My job is writing. I get paid to do it. When was the last time you heard someone challenge a doctor for making money off of cancer?
- Joyce Maynard
Making, Last, Off, Cancer
Those who rhapsodize about the ease and joy of childhood have perhaps forgotten what it's like to be 12 years old.
- Joyce Maynard
Childhood, Ease, Like, Forgotten
If people choose to live their life in a way that does not confront the more troubling aspects of their experience, that's fine, if it works for them. But it will probably make them uncomfortable if they come up against somebody like me. So they just shouldn't! They shouldn't read my work!
- Joyce Maynard
Against, Confront, Works, Uncomfortable
It is not the task of a reader to please her subjects.
- Joyce Maynard
Her, Task, Reader, Subjects
To share our stories is not only a worthwhile endeavor for the storyteller, but for those who hear our stories and feel less alone because of it.
- Joyce Maynard
Feel, Endeavor, Stories, Storyteller
Many women my age have known the experience of giving up crucial parts of themselves to please the man they love.
- Joyce Maynard
Love, Giving Up, Crucial, Please
I continued to protect him with my silence.
- Joyce Maynard
Him, Protect, Silence
The silence was part of the story I wanted to tell.
- Joyce Maynard
Tell, Part, Wanted, Silence
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