Daniel Woodrell

I didn't really expect to be coming to the Oscars. ”

I joined the Marines the week I turned 17, and that led to a few experiences that might qualify as adventure - eye of the beholder. ”

I learned my values. It's better to be poor than to be beholden. Wealth is not the object of life. You should be polite as long as possible, and when you can't be polite anymore, don't run. ”

I was born in West Plains, and we lived here till I was one. Then my dad needed to get a job, so we moved to the St. Louis area. I lived in St. Charles, on the Missouri River, till I was 15. ”

I came back when I'd had a taste of other places and realized that I would never feel the same sense of connection to any place other than the Ozarks. ”

I just really like the verve and muscle of good crime fiction, the narrative punch of it. The underlying principle of good crime fiction is an insistence on a kind of root democracy. I've always responded to that notion. ”

It's called 'The Outlaw Album,' not 'The Ozarks Album.' These are stories that delve into different kinds of outlawry, from criminal acts to interior, or psychological, outlawry. The book is not meant to be a tapestry of the Ozarks. ”

I realized there might be monetary or financial reasons to jump in and write a 'Winter's Bone Retriumphs' or something, and nobody would object to me doing that in publishing. But it would be a waste of my time, and they always take a little longer than you thought they would take. ”

When poetry is on the money, 12 words can slay you. I admire that greatly. ”

I like the idea of everybody knowing each other; you know why you're doing things. ”