Paul Wilner

“Misogyny, when expressed or explored by men, remains a timeless classic.”
― Maggie Nelson, The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning

“Frank Sinatra stopped his car. The light was red. Pedestrians passed quickly across his windshield but, as usual, one did not. It was a girl in her twenties. She remained at the curb staring at him. Through the corner of his left eye he could see her, and he knew, because it happens almost every day, that she was thinking, It looks like him, but is it?

Just before the light turned green, Sinatra turned toward her, looked directly into her eyes waiting for the reaction he knew would come. It came and he smiled. She smiled and he was gone.”
― Gay Talese

“The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock—shock is a worn-out word—but astonish.”
― Terry Southern

“For everyone in this occupation, the skyline of New York is a family tree.”
― Gay Talese, The Bridge: The Building of Verrazano-Narrows Bridge