I would try to write my own story about some East Coast suburbanite having an affair or something like that. So I did that for maybe two years or so, and it just wasn't working for me at all.

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.

I was 35 when I started taking classes at Ohio University. After I got my degree, I kept working at the mill. When I was 45, I decided I was going to try to learn how to write short stories.

Donald Ray Pollock Quotes