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" In my writing, I try to combine all my favorite elements of journalism - accuracy, real characters that exist on this planet - with all my favorite elements of literature: a sense of flow, of propulsion, of wanting to read every sentence. "

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" I think many people have this sense that something about modern society - the screens, the noise, the traffic, the constant busyness - has approached a point where living in the world feels somewhat unhealthy. "

Michael Finkel

Living

World

Society

" I spent most of my youth in Montana, where there are long, cold winters, but Maine has the coldest winters you could imagine. Not only are they long, not only does it snow, but it gets really damp. It's a wet cold with a lot of wind. "

" I always fancied myself an outdoorsman, even though I'm a Jewish guy from the East Coast. "

" I am guaranteeing you that if you see my byline on a story, it's going to be the cleanest story you've ever read. "

" You can read my stuff; there are not very many quotes. It's more impressionistic. "

Michael Finkel

You

Very

" I committed pretty much the worst thing you can do, which is defraud the readers. "

" I think that it's human nature to categorize and label things. That's generally the way that the medical and psychological professions work. You look at elements of what you have, and you are able to categorize it, and then you can cure it. That's generally what works. "

" America might be the land of second chances, but it ain't the land of third chances. "

" I never do formal interviews. I don't use a tape recorder. I take notes but occasionally. "

" I am a writer. It's like a third arm to me. "

Michael Finkel

I Am

" I firmly believe that if we all just took a little time - like 10 or 15 minutes a day - to do nothing but sit calmly with our thoughts, this world would be a much better place. "

" I'd lied many times: to bolster my credentials, to elicit sympathy, to make myself appear less ordinary. "

" I spent 12 years traveling more than six months a year. I really needed to see the world. "

" In an odd sort of way, the computer and the Internet is the hermit's ideal form of communication. You don't have to see anyone. To send an email, you don't have to talk to anyone. You can just send it, and they'll read it on their own. The Internet has been really good for hermits. "

" There's a difference between lying and not being straight. "

" I tend to be a fairly spirited person, but I've never hated anyone more than I hated Christian Longo after his trial, when I realized his guilt and that I had been partially duped. "

Michael Finkel

Never

Person

" The so-called modern conveniences may, in fact, be extremely inconvenient - everything seems to exist as a distraction from any sort of deeper thought or contemplation. "

" Extraordinary things happen in solitude. "

" Modern life, especially with young children, so often seems like a mad rush... We so rarely take time to just do nothing - not look at our phones, not read the news. "

" Perhaps one could say I've worked in South Africa too long, but I believe in forgiveness, especially when a person admits a mistake, asks for forgiveness, and works to right a wrong. "

" There have always been hermits: people who want to get away from other humans. Literally, some of the first extant books and poems found in Mesopotamia and China mention people living alone in the woods. It's this primal fascination that exists across all cultures and all times. "

" I'm always theoretically opposed to capital punishment as a matter of policy; like, I don't believe a state should put its citizens to death. "

" My advice for telling someone else's story is to try not to consciously bend the story in any particular direction - to listen with an open mind, to include the good with the bad, to attempt to quell one's biases and allow the person you're writing about to emerge as wholly as possible, warts and all. "

" I moved at age 22 to Montana to be able to walk in really wild woods, where the chances of being killed by a bear or mountain lion are not zero. "

" Not to get too maudlin, but I think all mistakes are tests for one's mettle. "

" Frightening things happen in solitude. "

" As a writer, I spend a lot of time alone, and I like it. I'm also a long-distance runner, and I love long, solo road trips; I can drive literally all night, drinking coffee, and not even listening to the radio, just strangely content sifting through the random thoughts in my own head. "