In my writing, I try to combine all my favorite elements of journalism - accuracy, real characters that exist on this planet… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“His chief form of entertainment was reading. The last moments he was in a cabin were usually spent scanning bookshelves and nightstands.… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“Herman Melville, the author of Moby-Dick, largely withdrew from public life for thirty years. “All profound things,” he wrote, “are preceded and… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
I committed pretty much the worst thing you can do, which is defraud the readers. — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“Perceptive and valuable personal explorations of time alone include A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland, Party of One by Anneli Rufus,… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“He pilfered a copy of Ulysses, but it was possibly the one book he did not finish. 'What's the point of it?… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“The life inside a book always felt welcoming to Knight. It pressed no demands on him, while the world of human interactions… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“Knight's disdain for Thoreau was bottomless - 'he had no deep insight into nature'...” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“The only book Knight didn't steal was the one he most often saw. 'I had no need for a Bible,' he said.” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
I never do formal interviews. I don't use a tape recorder. I take notes but occasionally. — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“He has seen the bottomless nonsense of our world and has decided, like most of us, to simply try to tolerate it. He appears… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
America might be the land of second chances, but it ain't the land of third chances. — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“The American essayist William Deresiewicz wrote that “no real excellence, personal or social, artistic, philosophical, scientific, or moral, can arise without solitude.” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“The first great literary work about solitude, the Tao Te Ching, was written in ancient China, likely in the sixth century B.C., by a… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
There have always been hermits: people who want to get away from other humans. Literally, some of the first extant books and poems found… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
I think many people have this sense that something about modern society - the screens, the noise, the traffic, the constant busyness - has… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
I'd lied many times: to bolster my credentials, to elicit sympathy, to make myself appear less ordinary. — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“He never bothered listening to sports; the bored him, every one of them.” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
