The wars don't end when you sign peace treaties or when the years go by. They will echo on until I'm gone and all the widows and orphans are gone. Tim O'Brien echoendorphan Change image and share on social
Place is so important to me. The Midwest is like a ghost in my life. It's present as I look out the window now. I see Texas, but if I close my eyes and look out the same window, I'm back in my hometown in Worthington, Minnesota, and I cherish those values and that diction. Tim O'Brien backcherishclose share on social
Why do fairy tales exist, and why do movies exist? Why do novels exist? There has to be a reason for it; otherwise, none of these things would be there. Tim O'Brien existfairymovie Change image and share on social
What do you do when you get a draft notice and you think a war is wrong? And I struggled with that for months prior to my being inducted into the army, and I'm still struggling with it, 40 years later. Tim O'Brien armydraftinduct share on social
Stories have a special way of putting us inside the people, inside the boots of the soldiers. You're absorbed in a way a documentary or nonfiction can't do for you. Tim O'Brien absorbbootdocumentary Change image and share on social
A small, seemingly inconsequential event can determine a life. Tim O'Brien determineeventinconsequential Change image and share on social
I learned that moral courage is harder than physical courage. Tim O'Brien couragehardlearn Change image and share on social
I hated the draft, but at the same time, it's something that made every American take war seriously. Tim O'Brien americandrafthate Change image and share on social
To provide background and physical description and all the rest is of course vital to fiction, but vital only insofar as such detail is in the service of a richly imagined story, rather than in the service of good botany or good philosophy or good geography. Tim O'Brien backgroundbotanydescription share on social
When I have a book I enjoy, I'm partly in the book. I'm not just observing it. Tim O'Brien bookenjoyobserve Change image and share on social
