Quotes from Daniel Woodrell

He's got that 'born to lose and lose violently' air about him. That's good.

I hate to fall back on weird to describe them, but goofy is too weak, and strange sounds too sensible.

Ree sat chilled inside her squat tent. To occupy her mind, she decided to name all the Miltons: Thump, Blond, Catfish, Spider, Whoop, Rooster, Scrap… Lefty, Dog, Punch, Pinkeye, Momsy… Cotton, Hog-jaw, Ten Penny, Peashot…

stained raincoats, I reckon." "And shitpaper stuck to their shoes.

You wake up in this here world, my sweet li'l mister, you got to wake up tough. You go out that front door tough of a mornin' and you stay tough 'til lights out—have you learned that?

Taggin' that name on you, that was like casting a curse on you. Oh, baby, your ma made a sorry, shitty prediction on your whole life and hung a name on you that would help the sorry, shitty stuff come true." "You ain't bringin' me any news.

I reckon I always had been huntin' for a place to plant my feet and go down swinging.

The pain was shrill enough, but the idea of a finger of mine twitching about, lost in chicken-pecked dust, was more terrible.

You know, I'm very near to bein' normal, but I just can't get over the hump." "Well

Can't none of this be new to you.

Sammy, wouldn't you like to add up to something? In the future? Amount to something?" "Naw. I just figure to roll on, stackin' days, you know, till the day I fuck up big enough the future gets canceled. Or else all planned out for me, maybe. There's a somewhat likely chance of that." "Man, Sammy, I can't live thinking that way" "Well,I don't think about it.

Ice slipped from everything, limb, twig, stump, rock, and cascaded chinking to ground. Mist lifted from the bottoms to lie over the tracks but did not lift much above her head. Mist smeared like tears squashed on her cheeks.

The going sun chucked a vast spread of red behind the ridgeline. A horizon of red light parsed into shafts by standing trees to throw pink in streaks across the valley snow.

boys popped wheelies that landed very near the men, then exercised their audacity by requesting quarters to stop. "I could scuff your shoes for nothin'," they said, "but when a quarter's

babies don't know anything but nipples and lullabies.

This floor, here? I remember when this floor here used to get to jumping' like a fuckin' bunny from all the dancing'. Everybody dancing' around all night, stoned out of their minds - and it always was the happy kind of stoned back then.

This floor, here? I remember when this floor here used to get to jumpin' like a fuckin' bunny from all the dancin'. Everybody dancin' around all night, stoned out of their minds - and it always was the happy kind of stoned back then.

He was a man with a tin-ear present who dreamed of a rock-opera future.

I FELL DEEP down in there, until this bright light raised me from sleep. Coming out of a pit such as that, you think the bright light could be God or a cop on patrol.

I pulled the rearview down and looked at myself in the mirror for a spell, trying to spot virtues.

It was at this moment, chided by his old and present rival, that Shade decided it was time to revert to the shitkicker verities. Brazen dash, rough talk, and an ounce or two of mean were clearly required.

Before all that long, you start telling those near to you that you went on interviews that turned out sorry when factually you never even made the phone call.

A person has to show some spirit--fate just about never shines kindly on chickenshits.

Grunt work is my main calling, but I like to be dead when I do it.