“A certain ruthlessness and a sense of alienation from society is as essential to creative writing as it is to armed robbery. The strong-armer isn’t out merely to turn a fast buck any more than the poet is out to solely to see his name on the cover of a book, whatever satisfaction that event may afford him. What both need most deeply is to get even.”

Neslon Algren, 1956

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 21st, 2002 at 9:50 am and is filed under On Writing.