Daniel Woodrell

I think my grandmother Woodrell was most responsible for my becoming a writer. She wasn't quite literate, but was very proud that she attended school as far as the third grade. She worked as a maid, housekeeper and cook. ”

I was reading newspaper front pages from the 1930s, and I was taken aback. I'm not naive about American history, but I was a bit knocked off my feet by things that used to be on the front pages of newspapers. ”

You realize you're alive while you're alive, and you better notice it then, because later, it's hard to see. ”

I liked my fellow Marines. I didn't like pointless orders. ”

I felt like a number of things in me as a writer just clicked. ”

When I started to be a writer, I was not going to run the risk of boring you. ”

I love Shakespeare and the Greeks - learned a lot studying them at one time. ”

I always gravitate towards anything from Ireland. With Irish lit, I love the use of language, but also in many instances, the Irish writers are writing about people and circumstances that I can relate to. ”

I've always been fascinated by the Mississippi River and the way of life in these small river towns. ”

I'd met some awfully tough gals in my life, and I find them compelling, if I don't have to socialize with them too much. ”