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" 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. "

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" 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

Young

World

Woman

" For 25 years, I did take my responsibilities as a pleaser of others sufficiently seriously. "

" 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. "

" I compromised my ability to tell my story, at the most basic level. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I had known there had been a serial killer on Mount Tamalpais, and it felt so incongruous in such a beautiful, peaceful spot. "

" There is a theme that runs through my work, and that is: the toxic property of keeping secrets. "

" It troubles me that people speak about writing for money as ugly and distasteful. "

" 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

Work

Live

" I've had some wonderful successes and some extreme disappointments in my career and my life. "

" 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. "

" A person who deserves my loyalty receives it. "

" 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. "

" Those who rhapsodize about the ease and joy of childhood have perhaps forgotten what it's like to be 12 years old. "

" Women writers have been told, forever, that our stories were not valuable. Not as valuable as men's stories about wars, business, power. "

" The process of writing has always started for me when I put myself in a place where no one distracts me. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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

Time

God

" You write about what you know, and you write about what you want to know. "

" One life is not enough for me. I want to go lots of places. "

" The portrait of my parents is a complicated one, but lovingly drawn. "

" The silence was part of the story I wanted to tell. "

" 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? "

" 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. "

" I continued to protect him with my silence. "

" 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

Person

She