From Several Short Sentences about Writing:

“One purpose of writing – its central purpose – is to offer your testimony
About the character of existence at this moment.
It will be part of your job to say how things are,
To attest to life as it is.
This will feel strange at first.
You’ll wonder whether you’re allowed to say things that sound
Not merely observant but true,
And not only true in carefully framed, limited circumstances,
But true for all of us and, perhaps, for all time.”

I have a theory that all books are testimonial. Memoirs and biographies do this in obvious ways. But even in fiction, a story reveals the author’s own universe – with its assumptions and secrets – to us.

The power we hold as readers is whether to experience this testimony for ourselves.