Jane Smiley:
(geboren op 26 september 1949).
Amerikaanse schrijfster. Ze won de Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 voor haar roman A Thousand Acres (1991).
Leaving any bookstore is hard, especially on a day in August when the street outside burns and glares, and the books inside are cool and crisp to the touch.
The quote describes the special comfort of being inside a bookstore.
– The ‘street outside’ is hot, bright, and uncomfortable.
– The ‘bookstore inside’ is cool, quiet, and pleasant.
– The ‘books’ feel “cool and crisp,” suggesting freshness, order, and the physical pleasure of handling them.
In short, it means that bookstores can feel like a refuge from the harsh outside world, making them difficult to leave.
📖 Origin:
The quotation is commonly cited as coming from Jane Smiley’s novel:
– “Duplicate Keys”
– Published in 1984
It appears in discussions and quote collections as a line from that novel.
✍️ Author: Jane Smiley
– American novelist, essayist, and short-story writer
– Winner of the “Pulitzer Prize for Fiction ” for “A Thousand Acres” in 1992.
