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My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

- Thomas McGuane
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Author:
Thomas McGuane
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Literature
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I'm always surprised to rediscover that there's something kind of scary about life; and that the feeling we have that we're in charge is probably ill founded.

I'm always surprised to rediscover that there's something kind of scary about life; and that the feeling we have that we're in charge is probably ill founded.

One of the reasons I'm reluctant to start a novel is it's such an obsessive activity. You get in there, you don't know anything else while you're in there. And that's quite a sacrifice to make, especially for us old guys where time is kind of short. You don't want to disappear for a year; you want to be outdoors.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

You reach a point at which you have to view your life through the things you've spent so much time doing. The alternative is a perilous feeling of waste.

Maybe I haven't been tested, but I have no fear of death at all. I was with Allen Ginsberg during the last year of his life, and he called all his friends and said, 'I'm on my way out, and it's kind of exciting.' I see it as kind of exciting, too.

I never wanted to be a celebrity writer. I wanted to be a good writer. I'm still trying to be a good writer. That's what gets me out of bed in the morning.

It took me a long time to know enough about writing to really write short stories. You can't just immerse yourself, as you do in a novel, and see where everything goes. Novels are a very flexible, accommodating form. Short stories aren't.

All the ranchers I know have had back surgery, operations on their rotator cuffs. They all have new knees. I'd like to think I belong to that breed, but I don't.

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My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.