Quotes by Ian Frazier

About Ian Frazier:

Ian Frazier is an American writer and humorist. He is best known for his 1989 non-fiction history Great Plains, his acclaimed 2010 best-selling opus Travels in Siberia, and as a writer and humorist for The New Yorker.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Writing humor for me is more like a watchful-ness. You have to watch. When you say something funny, or someone else does, it's more like you wait for the piece.

Ian Frazier

America to me is so varied and exciting. I always feel nostalgia for the place I'm not in, and then I get there and find myself in a traffic jam going into the Lincoln Tunnel, and I think, 'God, why was I romanticizing this part of the country?' I th...

Ian Frazier

I believe that when Crazy Horse was killed, something more than a man's life was snuffed out.

Ian Frazier

Everything in Russia is made of cement - phone booths, fence posts and light bulbs.

Ian Frazier

I only saw one English-speaking person all the way across Siberia.

Ian Frazier

When the days start to get shorter, I want to be in some nice brick building on the East Coast with the lights glowing in the windows. When the daylight starts changing, I want to be out West.

Ian Frazier

Leading economists have shown that by shrinking Texas, we can actually create more income for Texas in the long run.

Ian Frazier

Despite the obvious benefits, many Americans do not like Texas. Some even say they despise Texas, and make no secret of their feelings.

Ian Frazier

Words are charms. It's like a song you didn't even know you knew.

Ian Frazier

Siberia is a state of mind.

Ian Frazier

There's an idea of the Plains as the middle of nowhere, something to be contemptuous of. But it's really a heroic place.

Ian Frazier

I'm one of those people who happen to like trees. I don't know why - I just do. As a kid, I loved to climb them. The distant, upper branches, especially, were celestial and alluring.

Ian Frazier

I'd read books in Russian, and they would take me forever. I wanted to write a book that would last and would not be superficial. Siberian-travel writing is its own genre.

Ian Frazier

When I needed to think or was really upset, generally I climbed a tree.

Ian Frazier

To me, a bag in a tree is like a flag of chaos, and when I remove it, I'm capturing the flag of the other side. In the end, it doesn't matter how ironic or serious or even effective on a larger scale bag snagging may be.

Ian Frazier

I am an author, and like many in my profession, I am also a traveling salesman, going all over in an attempt to persuade people to spend twenty-five dollars on a hardcover book by me.

Ian Frazier

Every once in a while, people need to be in the presence of things that are really far away.

Ian Frazier

America can enjoy a vital, fully functioning government, with all the benefits provided by Texas, while reducing Texas at the same time.

Ian Frazier

I don't want to participate in traditional Indian religious ceremonies - dance in a sun dance or pray in a sweat lodge or go on a vision quest with the help of a medicine man. The power of these ceremonies has an appeal, but I'm content with what lit...

Ian Frazier

I think Indians dress better than anyone, but I don't want to imitate more than a detail or two; I prefer my clothes humdrum and inconspicuous, and a cowboy hat just doesn't work for me.

Ian Frazier

Human connection is the way things work. It's like a patronage system. You know somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows the district governor, and it's okay.

Ian Frazier

Author Bio

  • NameIan Frazier
  • Descriptionauthor and journalist
  • Born1951
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionWriter