“There's no rule I want to break or ever wanted to break - I find the conventiona…” — Edith Pearlman

In the late 1950s, self-esteem hadn't yet been invented. High schools saw their sole mission as preparing students thoroughly for academic work.

The natural world is often bleak, but the language devoted to it is as careful as needlepoint and prophetic as well.

I wanted to publish a book simply to be buried with it; that's all I wanted. I had no ambition beyond that.

I was quite satisfied with my creative life. I've always had reinforcement from a small but devoted readership.