Alan Cheuse Quotes, born January 23, 1940, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, was an American writer, literary critic, and professor who served as NPR’s book reviewer for All Things Considered for over 30 years. A late-blooming author, he published his first short story at 39 and went on to write five novels, including To Catch the Lightning (2009) and Song of Slaves in the Desert (2011), five short story collections, a memoir, and travel essays. A professor at George Mason University, Cheuse also taught at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. He passed away on July 31, 2015, from injuries sustained in a car accident. These 15 quotes—sourced from his books, interviews, and NPR reviews—reflect his insights on writing, life, and literature, capturing his passionate and curious spirit.
15 Alan Cheuse Quotes
- “Live as much as you can, read as much as you can, and write as much as you can.” (Interview, The New York Times, 2015)
- “I think fiction writers write what they do because no one else has written it and they want to read it.” (Interview, QuoteStats, n.d.)
- “We’re traveling light but we’re encumbered, like all wanderers, with the ineffable but ever-present baggage of everything that’s come before.” (Fall Out of Heaven, 1987)
- “In ‘A Scandalous Woman,’ the eventually distraught narrator watches as her high-spirited friend is beaten down—literally and figuratively—by Ireland’s pious customs.” (NPR review, 2015)
- “A novelist’s dream is to conjure up a whole world, one the reader can tumble right into and inhabit.” (Song of Slaves in the Desert, 2011)
- “Cheuse shows that in one way or another, we all experience slavery, and that freedom is never given but must be taken at all cost.” (Song of Slaves in the Desert, 2011)
- “The practice of fiction, the practice of deceit—both require a kind of moral sleight of hand.” (NPR review, The Practice of Deceit by Elizabeth Benedict, 2005)
- “A beautiful and quite possible reinvention of history.” (NPR review, Loving Che by Ana Menéndez, 2017)
- “With the pace and feel of an exploded documentary, Don Winslow recounts a 10-year odyssey of revenge set in Mexico against the stark history of the drug wars.” (NPR review, 2015)
- “Small towns glow with a strange magic in Stephen Millhauser’s new story collection.” (NPR review, 2015)
- “Paul Lynch’s prose is so gorgeous, it makes me want to give up writing.” (NPR review, The Black Snow by Paul Lynch, 2015)
- “The power of the sacrifices we make for the dreams that compel us.” (To Catch the Lightning, 2009)
- “Edna O’Brien’s first novel was burned in the small Irish village of her birth. The Love Object collects more than 30 of her fiery tales of religion and repression.” (NPR review, 2015)
- “A masterful writer skilled in both accuracy and nuance, Alan Cheuse grapples with the nether parts of our history, the murky boundary between right and wrong.” (Song of Slaves in the Desert, 2011)
- “Alan embodied the spirit of ambitious, far-ranging writing that characterized modernist writing at the time.” (Interview with Robert Pinsky, NPR, 2015)
Alan Cheuse’s quotes are a vibrant blend of literary passion, historical insight, and storytelling zeal, inspiring writers and readers to explore the world through books and live with curiosity. Which one’s got you ready to pick up a novel or pen your own story? Drop it in the comments and keep Cheuse’s literary legacy thriving!