Tom Bissell Quotes

The average action game doesn't much traffic in thematic grandiosity, but the BioShock games are different. ~ Tom Bissell

The kinds of games I'm most interested in are narrative games. ~ Tom Bissell

Games tell stories best when they're elliptical and ambiguous and there's a sense of roaming and freedom. ~ Tom Bissell

In the emergency of growing up, we all need heroes. But the father I grew up with was no hero to me, not then. He was too wounded in the head, too endlessly and terribly sad. Too funny, too explosive, too confusing. Heroes are uncomplicated. *This* makes them do *that* ... But the war does not make sense. War senselessly wounds everyone right down the line. A body bag fits more than just its intended corpse. Take the 58,000 American soldiers lost in Vietnam and multiply by four, five, six - and only then does one begin to realize the damage this war has done ... War when necessary, is unspeakable. When unnecessary, it is unforgivable. It is not an occasion for heroism. It is an occasion only for survival and death. To regard war in any other way only guarantees its inevitable reappearance. ~ Tom Bissell

A great writer reveals the truth even when he or she does not wish to. ~ Tom Bissell

Hocking was slender in the way that writers and musicians are sometimes slender: not out of any desire or design but rather because his days were spent being consumed rather than consuming. ~ Tom Bissell

Anyone who's taken a lot of creative-writing classes, or taught creative writing, has learned to dread a certain kind of manuscript. It's long, for one thing. It has irritatingly small type; it's grammatically meticulous when it comes to everything but punctuation, for which it has developed its own system of Tolkienic elaboration. ~ Tom Bissell

I view myself as a fiction writer who just happens to write nonfiction. I think I look at the world through a fiction-writer's eyes. ~ Tom Bissell

All the stuff I love most in game storytelling is never the big-picture stuff; it's the stuff that feels like curlicues, stuff that's just there because it's a game and because you can do it. ~ Tom Bissell

I like reading books with both hands, with my heart pumping, with blood on the page. So I'm interested in people who make stuff, and I'm interested in the lives that make the text. To read a book or watch a movie any other way, to me, personally, feels like a waste of time and misapplication of energy. ~ Tom Bissell

Sport-based video games occupy an odd space within the sphere of modern home entertainment. Reliably enjoyed by millions, the sport-based video game stands at what sometimes feels like an oblique angle from the larger medium, and in ways that can be hard to articulate. ~ Tom Bissell

Games such as Mass Effect allow the gamer a freedom of decision that can be evilly enlivening or nobly self-congratulating, but these games become uniquely compelling when they force you to the edge of some drawn, real-life line of intellectual or moral obligation that, to your mild astonishment, you find you cannot step across even in what is, essentially, a digital dollhouse for adults. Other mediums may depict the necessary (or foolhardy) breaches of such lines, or their foolhardy (or necessary) protection, but only games actually push you to the line's edge and make you live with the fictional consequences of your choice. ~ Tom Bissell

The way games are designed is you create a story, and then you create an obstacle course inside that story, and the player has to endure it to see more. So it's artificial. Game designers are so intensely worried about people getting bored that they pile on busy work for players to do. ~ Tom Bissell

I have an immensely understanding partner who does something creative herself, and we both need a lot of time alone. I structure my life around getting my work done, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary. That's the only way I've been able to do it. ~ Tom Bissell

I don't know how video game narrative works. ~ Tom Bissell

My fiction-writing DNA shows in how I think about prose, how I think about the page, how I think nonfiction stories should work. And every piece of nonfiction I write, I want it to have fictional texture. ~ Tom Bissell

Had Dr. Seuss been a slightly insane pornographer, he might have written a book like this.--reviewing Nicholson Baker's House of Holes ~ Tom Bissell

I'm an Old Media guy. I don't have a website; I don't Twitter. I love magazines, yet I love video games. It's a strange disconnect. ~ Tom Bissell

Of that time, there is still much we do not know. ~ Tom Bissell

When I play too many video games I begin to feel chubby-minded, caffeinated, bad. ~ Tom Bissell

To create anything - whether a short story or a magazine profile or a film or a sitcom - is to believe, if only momentarily, you are capable of magic. These essays are about that magic - which is sometimes perilous, sometimes infectious, sometimes fragile, sometimes failed, sometimes infuriating, sometimes triumphant, and sometimes tragic. I went up there. I wrote. I tried to see. ~ Tom Bissell

I'd been in Sacramento a day and already noticed the pervasiveness of its homeless problem. The city seemed like California without the masks or pretense: a place where dreams were occasionally made but mostly torn apart. ~ Tom Bissell

Final Fantasy VII awoke American gaming to the possibilities of narrative dynamism and the importance of relatively developed characters - no small inspiration to take from a series whose beautifully androgynous male characters often appear to be some kind of heterosexual stress test. ~ Tom Bissell

This is one of the most suspect things about the game form: A game with an involving story and poor gameplay cannot be considered a successful game, whereas a game with superb gameplay and a laughable story can see its spine bend from the weight of many accolades - and those who praise the latter game will not be wrong. ~ Tom Bissell

To create anything ... is to believe, if only momentarily, you are capable of magic. ~ Tom Bissell

Often the art in a video game is like glorified Thomas Kinkade, but some of it is genuinely enchanting and compelling. ~ Tom Bissell

Girlfriends, indeed: the anti-video game. ~ Tom Bissell

Most non-readers are nothing but an agglomeration of third-hand opinion and blindly received wisdom. ~ Tom Bissell

Charyn, like Nabokov, is that most fiendish sort of writer-so seductive as to beg imitation, so singular as to make imitation impossible. ~ Tom Bissell

[M]y first published book had just appeared in stores. The last year of my life
the year of finishing it, editing it, and seeing it through its various page-proof passes
ranks among the most unnerving of my young life. It has not felt good, or freeing. It has felt nerve-shreddingly disquieting. Publication simply allows one that much more to worry about. This cannot be said to aspiring writers often or sternly enough. Whatever they carry within themselves they believe publication cures will not, I can all but guarantee, be cured. You just wind up with new diseases. ~ Tom Bissell

It is the devious writer indeed who writes in such a way that the critic who finds himself unresponsive to the writer's vision feels like a philistine. ~ Tom Bissell

I think the highest purpose of fiction is to show that all people are fundamentally worthy of mercy. ~ Tom Bissell

For film at the beginning of the 20th century, they didn't even know what editing was yet. Actors didn't know how to perform in front of the camera. There wasn't sound. ~ Tom Bissell

What led me to that was I have never - I mean, I watch movies and I don't care who is the protagonist. I feel what that guy is feeling. You know, if it's Tom Cruise leaping over a building - I want to make it, you know? And I'm going to - yes, I made it. And yeah, so I get that. ~ Meryl Streep

...on a number of occasions this book has made reference to magic, and each time you've shaken your head, muttering such criticisms as "What does he mean by 'magic' anyhow? It's embarrassing to find a grown man talking about magic in such a manner. How can anybody take him seriously?" Or, as slightly more gracious readers have objected, "Doesn't the author realize that one can't write about magic? One can create it but not discuss it. It's much too gossamer for that. Magic can be neither described nor defined. Using words to describe magic is like using a screwdriver to slice roast beef."

To which the author now replies, Sorry, freeloaders, you're clever but you're not quite correct. Magic isn't the fuzzy, fragile, abstract and ephemeral quality you think it is. In fact, magic is distinguished from mysticism by its very concreteness and practicality. Whereas mysticism is manifest only in spiritual essence, in the transcendental state, magic demands a steady naturalistic base. Mysticism reveals the ethereal in the tangible. Magic makes something permanent out of the transitory, coaxes drama from the colloquial. ~ Tom Robbins

That night, Beansprout dreamt of Vivian and the large bronze boat with the dragon-headed prow coming to take Arthur to Avalon, in the same way as Vivian had taken Tom to wake the King. ~ T.J. Green

To be honest and real makes us vulnerable, but it also makes us honest and real. ~ Tom Althouse

At the bat of your lashes peacocks preen. Peacocks preen, elephants remember, camels go for days without water, and dinosaurs of all types become extinct. ~ Tom Robbins

I'm fundamentally not interested in the Fortune 500 companies - in US, Mexico, anywhere. The real backbones of economic growth are small and medium businesses. ~ Tom Peters

ABC wouldn't be a player in the news major leagues until the 1970s, when Roone Arledge brought to ABC News the energy and programming approach he had applied to ABC Sports. ~ Tom Brokaw

All medical procedures require two hands, so in a sense it's like when you play an instrument. That's what they call things that they use in their work: They call them instruments. A lot of people start out majoring in medicine and drop it and change their major to music. ~ Tom Waits

I am looking for the novelists whose writing is an extension of their intellect rather than an extension of their neurosis. ~ Tom Robbins

Holdfast the Dream ~ Tom Townsend

I am reminded of the proverb about the man with a single teacup to fetch water for his plants. In order to keep some alive, he had to let others die or run himself ragged. I have chosen to water this particular plant despite all its thorns, and I must simply hope my relationship with Tom can survive my absence. ~ Stacey Lee

I don't really have loads of friends - three or four who are close. The thing that I love the most is playing with my band, and with everything else I feel kind of uncomfortable. I don't think I'm socially awkward. I just prefer being behind a piano. ~ Tom Odell

It might sound a small thing, but if you want to get Tom Cruise into your movie, without a track record or without those agents knowing you, it's almost impossible. Now I can get through to pretty much anyone I want. Of course, 90 per cent of the time they still say no. ~ Eric Fellner

Can only write about what bites you. ~ Tom Stoppard

Quality of life is the sum total of the fairness of our tax structure; the caliber of our homes; the cleanliness of our air and water; and the provision of affirmative assistance to those who cannot assist themselves. True quality is absent if we allow social suffering to abide in an otherwise pristine environment. ~ Tom McCall

The God who is worthy to be known and served for who He is, is Himself the answer to this world's longings. And those who know Him best are best equipped to serve Him. He is their message. If we have discovered the glory of God in the face of Christ, we must not hold back. The God of glory must be made known. ~ Tom Wells

A sign in the window advertised the
long extinct Miller Genuine Draft. ~ Tom Merritt

His hate wasn't professional; it was an obsession, a fixation, as if unrequited love had grown awful, twisted into something ugly. ~ Tom Rob Smith

Kiss me," she said. "Tom, kiss me. ~ James Dashner

To Tom, the march of technology was equivalent to the march of civilization. ~ Stephen L. Carter

Show me a congenital eavesdropper with the instincts of a Peeping Tom and I will show you the making of a dramatist. ~ Kenneth Tynan

I wouldn't trade my career with anybody's. I'd trade a few movies with Tom Hanks - 'Apollo 13' and 'Forrest Gump' - but other than that, I love my career. ~ John Travolta

Most magic is a trick, an illusion. But [when The Beatles played the Ed Sullivan Show], this was real. Man oh man, was it real. ~ Tom Petty

Maybe it's because I'm a designer, but when I am in a state of excitement, everything is so sharp and colorful and amazing, and I can look at blue and I see the yellow in it and the green in it, and the green-blues, the yellow-blues, so. ~ Tom Ford

PATH TO SUCCESS: DREAM. PLAN. DO. FAIL. NEVER GIVE UP. FAIL. NEVER GIVE UP. FAIL. NEVER GIVE UP. ACHIEVE! IT'S A MESSY JOURNEY. ~ Tom Giaquinto

I developed a problem with authority. Any time that authority was what I interpreted as being unjust, I stood up to it, and that became my personality. ~ Tom Petty

Well, Daddy, I used to believe that artists went crazy in the process of creating the beautiful works of art that kept society sane. Nowadays, though, artists make intentionally ugly art that's only supposed to reflect society rather than inspire it. So I guess we're all loony together now, loony rats in the shithouse of commercialism. ~ Tom Robbins

i never told the truth so i can never tell a lie... ~ Tom Waits

No taxation without respiration. ~ Tom Feeney

They say that February is the shortest month, but you know they could be wrong. ~ Tom Robbins

If it weren't for Phoenician blinds, it'd be curtains for all of us. ~ Tom Robbins

The secret to recruiting is not in convincing people, but in sorting people. You can wear yourself out and become discouraged, working with the same "empty oysters." Your job as a professional recruiter is only to sort through the prospects until you find one who wants to be a distributor. It is ten times easier to locate a prospect who wants to work, than to convince an unwilling disinterested prospect to work. ~ Tom "Big Al" Schreiter

All records are riddles, and whatever you may want people to think it's about, it may just be throwing them off. And you don't want it to get in the way of what someone else's understanding is. It's not really about anything. At the same time, it will find some meaning. ~ Tom Waits

The myth suggests to us that a "good job" will offer us ample money, a social life, status and work which we will find "rewarding." It's actually astonishing how little we pause to reflect on these terms when at school or college. ~ Tom Hodgkinson

All right, sweetheart; here's your last question, and it's a real challenge, so don't let yourself get distracted by these jealous women. To make sure all twelve of our future children are going to be legitimate, what New York City football team did Joe Namath play for?"

Gracie's face fell. Lord. Any fool should know the answer to this one. New York City... What football team was from New York City? Her expression brightened. "The New York City YANKEES!"

A roar of laughter went up from the crowd, accompanied by more than a few loud groans. Bobby Tom silenced them all with a glare. At the same time, the glitter in his eyes dared any of them to contradict her. When he was certain everyone understood the message, he turned back to Gracie and gathered her into his arms. With a tender look and a gentle brush of his lips, he said "Exactly right, sweetheart. I had no idea you knew so much about football"

And that was how every last person in Telarosa, Texas, came to understand that Bobby Tom Denton had finally and forever fallen head over heels in love. ~ Susan Elizabeth Phillips

You should not translate for more than two hours at a time. After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid. ~ Tom Stoppard

Trans stories have now entered the mainstream in this fantastic way, but the most important thing is what follows from that is hopefully a shift in the experience of trans people - so that there's more acceptance in the culture to the issues they face and more support. ~ Tom Hooper

In order to tame death, they refuse to completely enjoy life. In rejecting complete enjoyment, they are half-dead in advance - and that with no guarantee that their sacrifice will actually benefit them when all is done. ~ Tom Robbins

Learning is a process whereby a human being, or group, or organization, or society comes to understand and embody nature's patterns. ~ Tom Johnson

My mama was a rocker way back in fifty-three, buys them old records that they sell on TV. ~ Tom Petty

The goal of this generation's pioneers should be to restrict procreation and limit consumption. They should also take every opportunity to make themselves happy, realizing that the key to self-generated happiness (the only reliable kind) is the refusal to take oneself too seriously. ~ Tom Robbins

I never could have dreamed that her heart was so wicked, but I keep coming back because it's so hard to kick it. ~ Tom Petty

My mythic version of America is very much about parents and children, and in my experience, the suburban setting is where that particular drama plays out. Which isn't to say that there aren't parents and children in cities or on farms. I just don't know them. ~ Tom Perrotta

The idea of the state is, or should be, a very limited, prescribed idea. The state looks after the defense of the realm, and other matters - raising revenue to pay for things which are for all of us, and so on. That idea has turned turtle now. The state isn't any longer perceived as an institution which exists to serve us. ~ Tom Stoppard

Is that cancer curable or just treatable. ~ Tom Brokaw

It's very fluid, this space between philosophy and literature, and that's something that resonates for me. ~ Tom McCarthy

The waiting is the hardest part. ~ Tom Petty

I used to go to Maple Leafs games all the time when Nic shot To Die For here in Toronto. This is a great city. I love it here. ~ Tom Cruise