Tibor Fischer quotes

You've got to try everything once, except those things you don't like, or that involve a lot of effort and getting up early. (Tibor Fischer)

The impossible lives next door to the possible; people ring its door bell by accident all the time.

Tibor Fischer

Opening the fridge door, I found a rat eating the cheese. My dealings with rodents, particularly those tagged verminous, have been few, but generally the pattern has been one of man, the boss, the caretaker of creation, the namer, appearing and the lower orders hitting the road.

Tibor Fischer

Methods Used 1. Marxist: You decide you're the vanguard of the proletariat and then you can do whatever you want because history will back you up. 2. Stoic: Stay very calm. 3. Positivist: Yes, I'm positive I want to rob this bank.

Tibor Fischer

Criticism is part of being in the marketplace. If you can't take a bit of criticism, you shouldn't bother publishing a book.

Tibor Fischer

Best of things symbolised by Jocelyne's barbell: "It's a symbol of the need for symbols." "How life shrapnels us." "Assistant bank manageress on the outside, primitive on the inside." "Of whatever I feel like." "That you can do stupid things at any point in your life."

Tibor Fischer

You don't really have to go anywhere in particular in New York City to have a good time. In every part of town, there's always something going on. It helps to know people there, too, because everything changes so fast, and they will be able to point out what's hot this month.

Tibor Fischer

Jocelyne clicked her barbell on her teeth. I was watching her closely for signs of collapsing romance. Her tongue was pierced, (a process, she had elaborated, that had taken two weeks of painful healing) and it put me in mind of the tongue-piercing ceremony endured on October 28, 709 AD by the principal wife of Shield Jaguar, Blood Lord of Yaxchilan (Lintel 24); i. e. to my eye, pointless, but if it's good enough for the Mayans ... "Why did you do it?" "To punish my tongue, for saying things it shouldn't have." Click. "But surely it was only obeying orders?" "It has to learn to be warier of its mistress. And it's also a symbol." Click. "What of?"

Tibor Fischer

Some years ago, I fired my agent, Andrew Wylie, alias The Jackal. I want to stress this wasn't an amicable parting of the ways or a hankering on my part for fresh representation. I fired him because his agency wasn't doing enough for me.

Tibor Fischer

Because my name is Hungarian, everyone assumed I knew about Hungary. I didn't. They also assumed that if you knew about Hungary, you also knew about the rest of Eastern Europe.

Tibor Fischer

I never could get a proper job. (Tibor Fischer)

Most books reviews aren't very well-written. They tend to be more about the reviewer than the book.

Tibor Fischer

The way British publishing works is that you go from not being published no matter how good you are, to being published no matter how bad you are.

Tibor Fischer

I don't take much notice of reviews now - obviously you'd like to have straight worship but you're never going to get that.

Tibor Fischer

No one wants a masterpiece knocking around when your own book is looking for attention.

Tibor Fischer

When I think of Hungarian films, I think of despair and bleakness, and what's more, despair and bleakness of indefensible duration.

Tibor Fischer

It's what the reader thinks that counts.

Tibor Fischer

New York City has fantastic restaurants and, unlike London, a lot of the best restaurants are relatively cheap.

Tibor Fischer

As suburbs go, Bromley's not bad. But as David Bowie and Hanif Kureishi have observed, you do want to get out of there quickly.

Tibor Fischer

Ultimately, it's about the quality of the writing whatever style you are writing.

Tibor Fischer

I went to a British Council event a while back and there were lots of German professors of literature. About half of them were convinced I had a German sense of humour and the other half were sure it was British. They are probably still arguing about it now. (Tibor Fischer)

A public role endures for the literary high-command, as sages and seers, speaking out on social and political issues.

Tibor Fischer

Miami, in many ways, is a quintessentially American city. The juxtaposition of showy wealth with dire pennilessness, the tussle of glitz and decay doesn't come any more marked than here.

Tibor Fischer

As an author, I realise, you're on your own. You have to do everything you can to help The Book. If I make sure people know it's out there, they can make up their own minds whether they want to read it.

Tibor Fischer

It's true, some senior Hungarian writers are not known for their laughter. There is a strong Germanic influence - an attitude that if it's enjoyable it can't possibly be literature.

Tibor Fischer