Madeleine Gravis Quotes in Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Caden Cotard: I wanted to ask you, how old are kids when they start to write?

Madeleine Gravis: Listen, there's an absolutely brilliant novel written by a four year old.

Caden Cotard: Really?

Madeleine Gravis: 'Little Winky" by Horace Azpiazu.

Caden Cotard: That's cute.

Madeleine Gravis: Hardly, Litty Winky is a virulent anti-Semite. The story follows his initiation into the klan, his immersion in the pornographic snuff industry, and his ultimate degradation at the hands of a black ex-convict named Eric Washington Jackson Jones Johnson...

Caden Cotard: -Written by a four year old?

Madeleine Gravis: -Jefferson.

Caden Cotard: Wow, written by a four year old.

Madeleine Gravis: Well Azpiazu killed himself when he was five.

Caden Cotard: Why did he kill himself?

Madeleine Gravis: I don't know, why did you?

Caden Cotard: What?

Madeleine Gravis: I said, 'Why would you?'