I don't really think the outburst is recent; there have always been writers in Appalachia.

I'm beginning to believe that anything I do to extend my life is just going to be outweighed by the agony of living it.

[Degree in English] gave me a little more self-confidence, to know that I'd managed to complete something like that.

I really have no idea what the French think of my characters, or why The Devil All the Time did so well there.

I'm always doubting my work, even when people are kind enough to say good things. I still have a hard time believing I've written some books, let alone that they've actually done pretty well.

I think my characters - well, at least a few of them - are hoping or searching for some kind of contact with god.

I spent thirty-two years in a paper mill in southern Ohio, and before that I worked in a meatpacking plant and a shoe factory.