Then there was the whole concept of coal mining, which is a culture unto itself, the most dangerous occupation in the world, and which draws and develops a certain kind of man.

Happiness is the maximum agreement of reality and desire.

Mystery books. I must read a hundred a year. . . I just wish some of them were harder to figure out.

You have to be an outsider to write.

The great thing about being a writer is that you are always recreating yourself.

Then there was the whole concept of coal mining, which is a culture unto itself, the most dangerous occupation in the world, and which draws and develops a certain kind of man.

To capture the human cost of fallen empire with all its horror and absurdity, Sheets offers the right combination: the political insight of a top reporter and the power of a novelist.