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" I'm probably the least cerebral guy you're ever going to meet as a writer. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Cerebral
Guy
Going
Related Quotes:
" When I turned fifty, I decided to quit the mill and go to graduate school. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Quit
Graduate School
School
" I would try to write my own story about some East Coast suburbanite having an affair or something like that. So I did that for maybe two years or so, and it just wasn't working for me at all. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Working
Try
Story
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Growing Up
City
Growing
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Think
Story
Like
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Talent
Weird
Like
" I was always a big reader, even when everything was bad and miserable. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Everything
Miserable
Always
" Nobody really turns out too happy in any of my stuff. It's really strange, because I'm actually a pretty happy person. I'm not walking around giggling or anything like that, but I've got this feeling that everything is okay with my life. "
Donald Ray Pollock
My Life
Happy
Walking
" I spent thirty-two years in a paper mill in southern Ohio, and before that, I worked in a meatpacking plant and a shoe factory. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Plant
Before
Years
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Am
Southern
Just
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Thought
Loved
Great
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Ignorance
Four
Connected
" I listen to a lot of different stuff, from Mozart to Johnny Dowd to Monster Magnet. I don't listen to music while I'm writing a draft, but I do listen to it when I'm revising. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Writing
Draft
Listen
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
I Am
Day
Best
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Me
Week
Story
" I sort of like writing about weird characters, I guess. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Characters
Writing
Guess
" I was 35 when I started taking classes at Ohio University. After I got my degree, I kept working at the mill. When I was 45, I decided I was going to try to learn how to write short stories. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Working
University
Try
" 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. "
Donald Ray Pollock
Growing
Up
People