“My advice for aspiring writers is go to New York. And if you can’t go to New York, go to the place that represents New York to you, where the standards for writing are high, there are other people who share your dreams, and where you can talk, talk, talk about your interests. Writing books begins in talking about it, like most human projects, and in being close to those who have already done what you propose to do.”

American novelist, literary critic, and essayist

Walter Kirn is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. He is known for his fiction and criticism, and for writing the novel Up in the Air, which was later adapted into a film starring George Clooney. Kirn has written eight books in all, and his work spans novels, literary criticism, and essays. He is best known for Up in the Air, the book that brought him the widest recognition and reached an even larger audience through its film version.