Steven Marciano
https://www.instagram.com/variousfictions/
https://www.goodreads.com/variousfictions
to-read
(875)
currently-reading (6)
read (434)
did-not-finish (2)
in-translation (86)
non-fiction (68)
science-fiction (68)
graphic-novels (39)
currently-reading (6)
read (434)
did-not-finish (2)
in-translation (86)
non-fiction (68)
science-fiction (68)
graphic-novels (39)
essays
(37)
hot-baguettes (37)
fantasy (31)
short-stories (29)
memoir (28)
white-whales (27)
poetry (25)
film (24)
hot-baguettes (37)
fantasy (31)
short-stories (29)
memoir (28)
white-whales (27)
poetry (25)
film (24)
progress:
(page 150 of 453)
"Books V and VI. The war in heaven, Iliad-esque. Jesus flexes on the divine chariot. Satan and pals choose the abyss over the wrath of God" — Mar 06, 2026 04:50PM
"Books V and VI. The war in heaven, Iliad-esque. Jesus flexes on the divine chariot. Satan and pals choose the abyss over the wrath of God" — Mar 06, 2026 04:50PM
“The young man, who does not know the future, sees life as a kind of epic adventure, an Odyssey through strange seas and unknown islands, where he will test and prove his powers, and thereby discover his immortality. The man of middle years, who has lived the future that he onced dreamed, sees life as a tragedy; for he has learned that his power, however great, will not prevail against those forces of accident and nature to which he gives the names of gods, and has learned that he is mortal. But the man of age, if he plays his assigned role properly, must see life as a comedy. For his triumphs and his failures merge, and one is no more the occasion for pride or shame than the other; and he is neither the hero who proves himself against those forces, nor the protagonist who is destroyed by them. Like any poor, pitiable shell of an actor, he comes to see that he has played so many parts that there no longer is himself.”
― Augustus
― Augustus
“I have always longed to be part of the outward life, to be out there at the edge of things, to let the human taint wash away in emptiness and silence as the fox sloughs his smell into the cold unworldliness of water; to return to town a stranger. Wandering flushes a glory that fades with arrival.”
― The Peregrine
― The Peregrine
“Sprezzatura is a moral rhythm, it is the music of an interior grace; it is the tempo, I would like to say, in which the perfect freedom of any given destiny is made manifest”
― The Unforgivable and Other Writings
― The Unforgivable and Other Writings
“To set one's name to a work gives no one a title to be remembered, for who knows how many of the best of men have gone without a trace? The iniquity of oblivion blindly scatters her poppyseed and when wretchedness falls upon us one summer's day like snow, all we wish for is to be forgotten.”
― The Rings of Saturn
― The Rings of Saturn
“Perhaps to the soldier the civilian is the man who employs him to kill, who includes the guilt of murder in the pay-envelope and escapes responsibility.”
― The Quiet American
― The Quiet American
The Mookse and the Gripes
— 2168 members
— last activity 3 hours, 7 min ago
Forum for spirited and convivial discussion of fiction from around the world, with particular though not exclusive focus on 20th and 21st century fict ...more
Steven’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Steven’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Steven
Lists liked by Steven
















































