How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He would say to her that it didn't matter; she should just tell him what she didn't believe. Then he would change that part. Every part she believed was true every part she didn't believe needed work. (10.133)
To be honest, fiction writers are a lot like con men. They don't care for silly concepts like truth—they just want you to buy what they're selling, hook, line, and sinker.
Quote #8
"I would rather be rich and wholly outside caring about what the idiots call 'serious,'" he told John Wolf. (16.8)
It doesn't matter if you're talking about books, paintings, or music—"serious" artists rarely become successful during their own lifetime. Garp is choosing the other path; he's selling out.
Quote #9
"A book's true when it feels true," she said to him, impatiently. "A book's true when you can say, 'Yeah! That's just how damn people behave all the time.'" (16.84)
Jillsy's unpretentious wisdom is just as insightful as a truckload of Garp's high-minded rhetoric. People want to see themselves—and the people they know and love—reflected back at them in the books they read.