A lot of people get the wrong impression, think there's something romantic or tragic about hitting bottom. — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
When I was growing up, I always wanted to be somebody else and live somewhere else. I've always felt a little uncomfortable… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
The humor I came up with is, for the most part, a bit crude or guttural, and many people aren't going to… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I'm always doubting my work, even when people are kind enough to say good things. I still have a hard time believing… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Four hundred or so people lived in Knockemstiff in 1957, nearly all of them connected by blood through one godforsaken calamity or… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I'm not really a good reader. What I mean is, I think I'm not one of those people who can read a… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
When I first started out, I was trying to write stories about nurses and lawyers and a lot of people I didn't… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
One of the reasons I write about religion is due to my own envy of people who truly feel the presence of… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I think some people at Doubleday worried about that a bit when Knockemstiff came out, but, with the exception of one or… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I guess music is the one universal art form that most people can be moved by, regardless of where they come from,… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I really have no idea where the darkness comes from. Other writers have said that there are two subjects worth writing about,… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I do believe the world is a pretty sad, troubled, and violent place. Maybe that's why I focus on the trouble. Even… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Probably because I personally knew at least six or seven people in Ross County who died from overdoses in the last three… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Religion can be a good thing, but basically the way I look at it is that it provides a moral code, common… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
There are a lot of writers from the South who would probably have once figured they needed to go to New York… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
It's very easy for me to feel sympathy for people who are messed up. It's not that I'm a pseudo-saint or a… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I didn't feel that so much as an outsider when I started writing; I've felt that way all my life. I don't… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Though there are still many good people out there in the world, it seems that they're vastly outnumbered by the stupid, selfish,… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
“Strangers complained about the stench, but the locals liked to brag that it was the sweet smell of money.” — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I don't really think the outburst is recent; there have always been writers in Appalachia. — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Unless he had whiskey running through his veins, Willard came to the clearing every morning and evening to talk to God. Arvin didn't know… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
For example, if it's a sad scene, I need to feel that way, at least to a slight degree and for a short while,… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
As for how I feel about any success I've had, I just feel extremely lucky. Writing is a tough racket, and there are a… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Part of the reason might be that I was born in 1954 and I look upon my youth with great fondness, like many old… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I've never heard of that anthology [Vance Randolph, Pissing in the Snow], but you can be sure I'll buy it now. — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
When I first started out, I was trying to write stories about nurses and lawyers and a lot of people I didn't know anything… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
“It's hard to live a good life...It seems like the Devil don't ever let up.” — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I'm not sure what the proper label might be, or the most accurate one, but someone once called my stuff Southern Ohio Gothic and… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Don't get me wrong: I think that everyone should put forth an effort to do better, but let's face it, some of us are… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I look upon [writing about religion] as a nice way to get by in this precarious world, though I've never been able to do… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
![“I've never heard of that anthology [Vance Randolph, Pissing in the Snow], but you can be sure I'll buy it now.” quote by Donald Ray Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ed3/donald-ray-pollock-7796_anthology_i-ve-never-heard-of-that-anthology-vance_202258.jpg)
![“I look upon [writing about religion] as a nice way to get by in this precarious world, though I've never been able to do it myself.” quote by Donald Ray Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1a5/donald-ray-pollock-7796_able_i-look-upon-writing-about-religion-as-a_316097.jpg)