Work
West's first writing was published in 1939, a short story called "99.6." Her early success came from publishing short stories in literary journals.
Much of her work concerns Indiana Quakers, despite the fact she spent much of her life in California. Asked about this in an interview, she said, "I write about Indiana because knowing little about it, I can create it." Comparing herself to other authors who created fictional universes, she remarked:
- "Roth wrote The Breast. Would you ask him how he could do this since he had never been a breast? Adams wrote Watership Down. Would you ask him how he could do this since he admitted his rabbit knowledge came from a book about rabbits? ... And those hobbits!... I am a bigger risk-taker than these others. The Hoosiers can contradict me. No rabbit, hobbit, or breast has been known to speak up in reply to their exploiters."
Her stories, although shaped by her imagination, are loosely based on tales told to her by her mother and grandmother of their life in rural Indiana. The characters in her 1969 book 'Except for Me and Thee' are based on Joshua and Elizabeth Milhous, the great grandparents she shares with President Nixon.
Read more about this topic: Jessamyn West (writer)
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“[To an admirer who said, “You look gorgeous”:] Oh, God, if you only knew how much work it takes.”
—Julie Wilson (b. 1925)
“The true poem is not that which the public read. There is always a poem not printed on paper,... in the poet’s life. It is what he has become through his work. Not how is the idea expressed in stone, or on canvas or paper, is the question, but how far it has obtained form and expression in the life of the artist. His true work will not stand in any prince’s gallery.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A great world leader is gone. Liberty loving people around the globe are sad tonight. We are strengthened in the thought of President Roosevelt’s work for little people everywhere.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)