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 about, and they just weren't working. — 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
I don't really think the outburst is recent; there have always been writers in Appalachia. — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share
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
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
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
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
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
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
“It's hard to live a good life...It seems like the Devil don't ever let up.” — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share
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
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
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
[Degree in English] gave me a little more self-confidence, to know that I'd managed to complete something like that. — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share
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 Copy Share
There are a lot of writers from the South who would probably have once figured they needed to go to New York to make… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share
