Saved by Stephen Black
‘I wish this guy hadn’t written this book’
he was who I wanted to be when I grew up. He’s one of the great nonfiction writers of our time, a genius of reportage and the profile, someone who could take any curious whim and turn it into a compelling book.
“Most of the young men of talent whom I have met in this country give one the impression of being somewhat demented. Why shouldn't they? They are living amidst spiritual gorillas, living with food and drink maniacs, success-mongers, gadget innovators, publicity hounds. God, if I were a young man today, if I were faced with a world such as we have c... See more
Henry Miller • Henry Miller: Few Can Escape the Treadmill
Recently, New York Times Magazine writer Sam Anderson and I spoke about how describing something well is both an act of incredible generosity and a literary challenge of the highest order.
Craig Mod • Looking Closely Is Everything
At age fifty he viewed himself, after publication of two books of nonfiction, one on the war, the other a personal account of the Irish troubles, plus the short story collection and innumerable articles for national magazines, as a conundrum, a man unable to define his commitment or understand the secret of his own navel, a literary gnome. He serio
... See moreWilliam Kennedy • Billy Phelan's Greatest Game
He was an affable curmudgeon, a refreshing truth-teller who inadvertently imbued a sense of both irony and hope in every sentence.