Top 20 Quotes by Donald Ray Pollock

I'd always been a big reader, and I loved books, and I always thought writing would be a great way to get by in the world.

When I was growing up, I just wanted to be somewhere else. I didn't like living in Knockemstiff, and I figured when I got older, I'd move off to some big city.

I'm not sure about 'absolute' happiness, but I am happiest when I go to bed at night knowing that I tried to do my best that day.

I am very indebted to southern writers and not just Flannery O'Connor. Also Harry Crews, Larry Brown, Tennessee Williams, Barry Hannah and William Gay.

If the story wasn't overly long, I'd type it out. And I'd carry it around with me for a week and jot notes on it, and then I'd throw it away and do another one.

When I turned fifty, I decided to quit the mill and go to graduate school.

I'm not really a good reader. What I mean is, I think I'm not one of those people who can read a story and analyze it just like that.

I would like to write a book that wasn't so violent and weird, but I just don't think I can do that with my talent. I don't think it would come off.

When I was growing up, I always wanted to be somebody else and live somewhere else. I've always felt a little uncomfortable around people.

Four hundred or so people lived in Knockemstiff in 1957, nearly all of them connected by blood through one godforsaken calamity or another, be it lust or necessity or just plain ignorance.