--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to read only fiction. Now I don't…" description: "\"I used to read only fiction. Now I don't read much, only occasionally, such as a Cormac McCarthy or a Jim Harrison novel.\" — David Quammen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/david-quammen-9256_books_i-used-to-read-only-fiction-now-i-don-t_326130.jpg" --- # I used to read only fiction. Now I don't read much, only… ![“I used to read only fiction. Now I don't read much, only occasionally, such as a Cormac McCarthy or a Jim Harrison novel.” quote by David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/david-quammen-9256_books_i-used-to-read-only-fiction-now-i-don-t_326130.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/david-quammen-9256_books_i-used-to-read-only-fiction-now-i-don-t_326130.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/904/david-quammen-9256_books_i-used-to-read-only-fiction-now-i-don-t_326130.jpg) > “I used to read only fiction. Now I don't read much, only occasionally, such as a Cormac McCarthy or a Jim Harrison novel.” [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shifting from fiction to selective reading reflects changing interests and time constraints. **In simple terms:** Reading habits evolve. Key Takeaway Choose reading that fulfills you. Themes reading literature personal growth Mood contemplative introspective Type reflective literary When to use this quote - commuting - leisure time - academic study - book clubs Key Concepts cognitive psychology literary analysis time management Questions to Reflect On - What genres inspire you now? - How do you balance reading with life? A Different Perspective Limited reading may reduce exposure to diverse ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) ## Related quotes > [I like to bake. I read occasionally. I like to go the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/breanna-stewart/i-like-to-bake-i-read-occasionally-i-like-to-go-the-movies/) [Breanna Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/breanna-stewart/) > [I can easily believe it. Women of that class have great opportunities, and if they are intelligent may be well worth listening to. Such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-can-easily-believe-it-women-of-that-class-have-great-opportunities/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [From a literary standpoint, I've been loving Raymond Carver's short stories, William Carlos Williams' poems, Richard Siken's 'Crush', John Fante, and Jim Harrison's book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-salpeter/from-a-literary-standpoint-i-ve-been-loving-raymond-carver-s-short/) [Greta Salpeter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-salpeter/) > [I was once referred to in a Kirkus review as a "northern Michigan version of Andre Dubus." My editor called me after the review…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/i-was-once-referred-to-in-a-kirkus-review-as-a-northern-michigan/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [Jim Harrison is someone I always enjoy, one of the great contemporary writers. I like Tim Ferris' Big Boom Theory. I'm getting into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/jim-harrison-is-someone-i-always-enjoy-one-of-the-great-contemporary/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“I walk to think and not to think. When walking I remember things that are important to me. I walk to forget. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-minot/i-walk-to-think-and-not-to-think-when-walking-i-remember-things-that/) [Susan Minot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-minot/) > [ Ten Little Indians once again shows \[Alexie\] to be not just one of the West’s best, but one of the most brilliantly literate American… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-franscell/ten-little-indians-once-again-shows-alexie-to-be-not-just-one-of-the/) [Ron Franscell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-franscell/) > [“Beware, O wanderer, the road is walking too." - Jim Harrison”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-drought/beware-o-wanderer-the-road-is-walking-too-jim-harrison/) Rod Drought > [“‎I wish Barry Lopez would write novels. from "Conversations with Jim Harrison”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harrison/i-wish-barry-lopez-would-write-novels-from-conversations-with-jim/) [Jim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harrison/) > [Nicholas Sparks recently went on record as saying he is a greater novelist than Cormac McCarthy. 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Norman Spinrad: I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-spinrad/cat-rambo-where-do-you-think-the-perennial-debate-between-what-is/) [Norman Spinrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-spinrad/) > [I love to read the kind of books I write. Genre-breaking. Fresh-concept. World-building. My all-time top three authors would have to be Cormac McCarthy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/i-love-to-read-the-kind-of-books-i-write-genre-breaking-fresh-concept/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“What if the catalyst or the key to understanding creation lay somewhere in the immense mind of the whale? . . . Suppose if God came back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-horwitz/what-if-the-catalyst-or-the-key-to-understanding-creation-lay/) Joshua Horwitz ## More by David Quammen > [I wrote four novels, but then I realized that the world didn't need me to be a novelist, but the world could use me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-wrote-four-novels-but-then-i-realized-that-the-world-didn-t-need-me/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [I am very, very old-fashioned and clumsy. I use those long reporter notebooks. This is what a troglodyte I am. The night before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-am-very-very-old-fashioned-and-clumsy-i-use-those-long-reporter/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Most Americans know nothing about the African forest, and it seems to them a very scary, spooky dangerous place. I've spent a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/most-americans-know-nothing-about-the-african-forest-and-it-seems-to/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“Horses aren’t native to Australia. They are exotic, first brought there by European settlers barely more than two centuries ago. Hendra is probably an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/horses-aren-t-native-to-australia-they-are-exotic-first-brought-there/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Viruses have to live somewhere. They can only replicate in living creatures. 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They are natural laboratories of extravagant evolutionary experimentation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/islands-are-havens-and-breeding-grounds-for-the-unique-and-anomalous/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“Each outbreak, by this view, represents a local event primarily explicable by a larger cause—the arrival of the wave. The main proponent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/each-outbreak-by-this-view-represents-a-local-event-primarily/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“The Towner paper contained a very interesting statement, as an aside, concerning the five ebolaviruses: “Viruses of each species have genomes that are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/the-towner-paper-contained-a-very-interesting-statement-as-an-aside/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [The swallow that hibernates underwater is a creature called yearning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/the-swallow-that-hibernates-underwater-is-a-creature-called-yearning/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“It comes and it goes. But epidemiologists have recognized that, with measles virus, as with other pathogens, there’s a critical minimum size of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/it-comes-and-it-goes-but-epidemiologists-have-recognized-that-with/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Whether you like the label 'Anthropocene' or not, whether you find the prospect of what it signifies inevitable or appalling (or both), the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/whether-you-like-the-label-anthropocene-or-not-whether-you-find-the/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Ebola isn't a respiratory virus. It doesn't spread through the airborne route. So it's not likely to spread like wildfire around the world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/ebola-isn-t-a-respiratory-virus-it-doesn-t-spread-through-the/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [I'm a white, middle-class male who had a happy childhood in Ohio. The world does not need me to be a novelist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-m-a-white-middle-class-male-who-had-a-happy-childhood-in-ohio-the/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“An amplifier host is a creature in which a virus or other pathogen replicates—and from which it spews—with extraordinary abundance. Some aspect of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/an-amplifier-host-is-a-creature-in-which-a-virus-or-other-pathogen/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) [Explore all 73 David Quammen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I used to read only fiction. 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