“If there’s a single lesson that life teaches us, it’s that wishing doesn't make it so. Words and thoughts don’t change anything. Language and reality are kept strictly apart — reality is tough, unyielding stuff, and it doesn't care what you think or feel or say about it. Or it shouldn't. You deal with it, and you get on with your life.”

American novelist and journalist

Lev Grossman is an American novelist and journalist. He is best known for the Magicians trilogy, which began with The Magicians in 2009 and continued with The Magician King and The Magician’s Land. He was book critic and lead technology writer at Time magazine from 2002 to 2016. His later work includes the children’s books The Silver Arrow and The Golden Swift, the novel The Bright Sword, a reimagining of the King Arthur legend, and the screenplay for The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, adapted from his short story.