Jane Smiley

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Jane Smiley

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Born
in Los Angeles, California, The United States
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March 2016


Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar. From 1981 to 1996, she taught at Iowa State University. Smiley published her first novel, Barn Blind, in 1980, and won a 1985 O. Henry Award for her short story "Lily", which was published in The Atlantic Monthly. Her best-selling A Thousand Acres, a story based on William Shakespeare's King Lear, received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992.
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LETTERS TO THE FUTURE: I Didn't Try to Save You as Hard as My Opponents Tried to Destroy You

When I was alive, I thought I was trying to save you, but I didn't try hard enough, or at least, I didn't try to save you as hard as my opponents tried to destroy you. I don't know why they did that. I could never figure that out.
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Published on December 08, 2015 08:33
Average rating: 3.72 · 189,545 ratings · 20,314 reviews · 130 distinct worksSimilar authors
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Quotes by Jane Smiley  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.”
Jane Smiley, Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel

“A child who is protected from all controversial ideas is as vulnerable as a child who is protected from every germ. The infection, when it comes- and it will come- may overwhelm the system, be it the immune system or the belief system.”
Jane Smiley

“But what truly horsey girls discover in the end is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and careers are the substitute-for horses”
Jane Smiley, A Year at the Races: Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Luck

Polls

Literary Fiction came out on top for our March poll. Please vote for the book you would like to read. Last day to vote will be Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Life After Life Life After Life by Kate Atkinson Kate Atkinson
 
  5 votes, 45.5%

The Master The Master by Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín
 
  4 votes, 36.4%

State of Wonder State of Wonder by Ann Patchett Ann Patchett
 
  2 votes, 18.2%

Forever Forever by Pete Hamill Pete Hamill
 
  0 votes, 0.0%

The Invisible Circus The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan The Invisible Circus Jennifer Egan
 
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A Thousand Acres A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley Jane Smiley
 
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