--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: James Salter is a consummate storyteller…" description: "\"James Salter is a consummate storyteller. His manners are precise and elegant; he has a splendid New York accent; he runs his hands through his gray ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/edward-hirsch-1614_gray-hair_james-salter-is-a-consummate-storyteller_1552185.png" --- # James Salter is a consummate storyteller. His manners are… ![“James Salter is a consummate storyteller. His manners are precise and elegant; he has a splendid New York accent; he runs his hands through his gray hair and laughs boyishly.” quote by Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/edward-hirsch-1614_gray-hair_james-salter-is-a-consummate-storyteller_1552185.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/edward-hirsch-1614_gray-hair_james-salter-is-a-consummate-storyteller_1552185.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/edward-hirsch-1614_gray-hair_james-salter-is-a-consummate-storyteller_1552185.png) > “James Salter is a consummate storyteller. His manners are precise and elegant; he has a splendid New York accent; he runs his hands through his gray hair and laughs boyishly.” [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote praises Salter's storytelling skill, precise manners, New York accent, and youthful humor, highlighting his distinctive voice and elegance. **In simple terms:** Salter tells stories with precise, elegant style and youthful humor. Key Takeaway Appreciate and emulate precise, elegant storytelling. Themes storytelling voice humor elegance character Mood admiring thoughtful Type literary analytical When to use this quote - writing workshops - public readings - literary criticism - teaching creative writing Key Concepts literary style narrative voice accent personality Questions to Reflect On - How does precise language affect reader engagement? - What role does accent play in character perception? A Different Perspective His style may not appeal to all audiences; some may find it overly ornate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gray hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gray-hair/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [New york](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york/) [Storyteller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storyteller/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I feel very fortunate to have known James Salter, not very well, but I knew him over the years. Always, people would be talking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-feel-very-fortunate-to-have-known-james-salter-not-very-well-but-i/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [James Salter has been a fighter pilot, a rogue, and a climber. He counts Robert Redford as a friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-rodrick/james-salter-has-been-a-fighter-pilot-a-rogue-and-a-climber-he-counts/) [Stephen Rodrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-rodrick/) > [My age makes all my wrinkles and gray hair make sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tig-notaro/my-age-makes-all-my-wrinkles-and-gray-hair-make-sense/) [Tig Notaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tig-notaro/) > ["Grandmother" doesn't mean that you have gray hair and you retire and stay home cooking cakes for your grandchildren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carine-roitfeld/grandmother-doesn-t-mean-that-you-have-gray-hair-and-you-retire-and/) [Carine Roitfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carine-roitfeld/) > [We grow gray in our spirit long before we grow gray in our hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/we-grow-gray-in-our-spirit-long-before-we-grow-gray-in-our-hair/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [These wrinkles are nothing These gray hairs are nothing, This stomach which sags with old food, these bruised and swollen ankles, my darkening brain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/these-wrinkles-are-nothing-these-gray-hairs-are-nothing-this-stomach/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [For guys, growing older is fine. Gray hair and wrinkles aren't considered a bad thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-barker/for-guys-growing-older-is-fine-gray-hair-and-wrinkles-aren-t/) [Nigel Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-barker/) > [Find someone who isn't afraid to admit that they miss you. Someone who knows that you're not perfect, but treats you as if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/find-someone-who-isn-t-afraid-to-admit-that-they-miss-you-someone-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“detectives then returned to his playmate and asked him for a description of the “boogeyman” who had taken Billy. 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I’d been so busy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-evangelista/i-d-never-seen-a-christmas-tree-so-big-in-person-isn-t-she-beautiful/) [Kate Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-evangelista/) > [What subsists to-day by violence continues to-morrow by acquiescence and is perpetuated by tradition; till at last the hoary abuse shakes the gray hairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/what-subsists-to-day-by-violence-continues-to-morrow-by-acquiescence/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [Wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age (Solomon 4:8).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/wisdom-is-the-gray-hair-unto-men-and-an-unspotted-life-is-old-age/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. He was a grump-looking old man with a great deal of a long gray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-barman-sidled-toward-them-out-of-a-back-room-he-was-a-grump/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Edward Hirsch > [And my experience is the best titles, for me, emerge in the process of writing. They don't usually come at the very beginning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-my-experience-is-the-best-titles-for-me-emerge-in-the-process-of/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [“I did not know the work of mourning Is like carrying a bag of cement Up a mountain at night The mountaintop is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-did-not-know-the-work-of-mourning-is-like-carrying-a-bag-of-cement/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [“Fall" Fall, falling, fallen. That’s the way the season Changes its tense in the long-haired maples That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/fall-fall-falling-fallen-that-s-the-way-the-season-changes-its-tense/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [I find great consolation in having a lot of poetry books around. I believe that writing poetry and reading it are deeply intertwined. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-find-great-consolation-in-having-a-lot-of-poetry-books-around-i/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [I had feelings that I didn't know what to do with, and I felt better when I started writing them. 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It is not a career but a calling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-is-a-vocation-it-is-not-a-career-but-a-calling/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [You're shadowed by your own dream, especially as you get older, of trying to create something that will last in poetry. And so, you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/you-re-shadowed-by-your-own-dream-especially-as-you-get-older-of/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-attention-deficit-disorder-of-the-culture-is-very-distressing-in/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Now, as I've gotten older I've been able to write more quickly. Sometimes I get in the space of something and I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/now-as-i-ve-gotten-older-i-ve-been-able-to-write-more-quickly/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Poetry takes courage because you have to face things and you try to articulate how you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-takes-courage-because-you-have-to-face-things-and-you-try-to/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Explore all 222 Edward Hirsch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) ## More Gray hair quotes > [The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. He was a grump-looking old man with a great deal of a long gray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-barman-sidled-toward-them-out-of-a-back-room-he-was-a-grump/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age (Solomon 4:8).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/wisdom-is-the-gray-hair-unto-men-and-an-unspotted-life-is-old-age/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [What subsists to-day by violence continues to-morrow by acquiescence and is perpetuated by tradition; till at last the hoary abuse shakes the gray hairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/what-subsists-to-day-by-violence-continues-to-morrow-by-acquiescence/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [“I’d never seen a Christmas tree so big in person. “Isn't she beautiful?” Deidra asked when she reached my side. I’d been so busy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-evangelista/i-d-never-seen-a-christmas-tree-so-big-in-person-isn-t-she-beautiful/) [Kate Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-evangelista/) > [“something in. I wonder what the heck he’s doing. It was almost like he was waiting for me. I don't say anything, not wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexa-riley/something-in-i-wonder-what-the-heck-he-s-doing-it-was-almost-like-he/) [Alexa Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexa-riley/) > [“I started in our neighborhood, buying a pastrami burrito at Oki Dog and a deluxe gardenburger at Astro Burger and matzoh-ball soup at Greenblatt's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-started-in-our-neighborhood-buying-a-pastrami-burrito-at-oki-dog/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [“detectives then returned to his playmate and asked him for a description of the “boogeyman” who had taken Billy. The boy said he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/detectives-then-returned-to-his-playmate-and-asked-him-for-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Find someone who isn't afraid to admit that they miss you. Someone who knows that you're not perfect, but treats you as if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/find-someone-who-isn-t-afraid-to-admit-that-they-miss-you-someone-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For guys, growing older is fine. Gray hair and wrinkles aren't considered a bad thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-barker/for-guys-growing-older-is-fine-gray-hair-and-wrinkles-aren-t/) [Nigel Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-barker/) > [These wrinkles are nothing These gray hairs are nothing, This stomach which sags with old food, these bruised and swollen ankles, my darkening brain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/these-wrinkles-are-nothing-these-gray-hairs-are-nothing-this-stomach/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [We grow gray in our spirit long before we grow gray in our hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/we-grow-gray-in-our-spirit-long-before-we-grow-gray-in-our-hair/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > ["Grandmother" doesn't mean that you have gray hair and you retire and stay home cooking cakes for your grandchildren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carine-roitfeld/grandmother-doesn-t-mean-that-you-have-gray-hair-and-you-retire-and/) [Carine Roitfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carine-roitfeld/) > [My age makes all my wrinkles and gray hair make sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tig-notaro/my-age-makes-all-my-wrinkles-and-gray-hair-make-sense/) [Tig Notaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tig-notaro/) > [“If youth was sold in a bottle of hair dye, we would all get in line.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-rogers/if-youth-was-sold-in-a-bottle-of-hair-dye-we-would-all-get-in-line/) Jan Rogers > [This modern craze for putting the young in positions of authority - headmasters in their thirties, bishops without a gray hair on their heads,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-goudge/this-modern-craze-for-putting-the-young-in-positions-of-authority/) [Elizabeth Goudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-goudge/) [Browse all 121 Gray hair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gray-hair/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "James Salter is a consummate storyteller. 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