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Chris Offutt Quotes

Reading wasn't an attempt to educate myself. It was my chief escape from a world that, although gorgeous in landscape and rich with mountain culture, didn't provide what I needed—the promise of advent...

Chris Offutt

Reading wasn't an attempt to educate myself. It was my chief escape from a world that, although gorgeous in landscape and rich with mountain culture, didn't provide what I needed—the promise of advent...

Tags: memoir, science fiction

When I couldn't see the land out there, I forgot I wasn't at home. Sometimes I wished it was always night.

Chris Offutt

When I couldn't see the land out there, I forgot I wasn't at home. Sometimes I wished it was always night.

About Author
Christopher John Offutt (born August 24, 1958) is an American writer. He is most widely known for his short stories and novels, but he has also published three memoirs and multiple nonfiction articles. In 2005, he had a story included in a comic book collection edited by Michael Chabon, and another in the anthology Noir. He has written episodes for the TV series True Blood and Weeds.

There are times in people’s lives when a significant event occurs and they’re not aware of it—the last time you pick up a son before he’s too heavy, the final kiss of a marriage gone bad, the view of...

Chris Offutt

There are times in people’s lives when a significant event occurs and they’re not aware of it—the last time you pick up a son before he’s too heavy, the final kiss of a marriage gone bad, the view of...

The tree line was gone and hilltops blended with the black tapestry of night. It was country dark. He closed his eyes, feeling safe.

Chris Offutt

The tree line was gone and hilltops blended with the black tapestry of night. It was country dark. He closed his eyes, feeling safe.

The state called it recidivism, but as the old cons said, Baker was doing life on the installment plan.

Chris Offutt

The state called it recidivism, but as the old cons said, Baker was doing life on the installment plan.

The desktop held a patina of hieroglyphs representing years of student boredom—names and initials gouged into the wood, blackened by grime and pencil, shellacked over, then cobwebbed again with anothe...

Chris Offutt

The desktop held a patina of hieroglyphs representing years of student boredom—names and initials gouged into the wood, blackened by grime and pencil, shellacked over, then cobwebbed again with anothe...

Vaughn nodded. Lije steaded himself and looked into the woods. Never could abide no roof.Ours ain't the best, Vaughn said. Leaks come spring.Lije pointed at Venus faint above the distant ridge. only r...

Chris Offutt

Vaughn nodded. Lije steaded himself and looked into the woods. Never could abide no roof.Ours ain't the best, Vaughn said. Leaks come spring.Lije pointed at Venus faint above the distant ridge. only r...

Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it. —Flannery O’Connor,

Chris Offutt

Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it. —Flannery O’Connor,

It occurred to him that time didn't move forward as he'd always thought. People move through time instead.

Chris Offutt

It occurred to him that time didn't move forward as he'd always thought. People move through time instead.

My car contained guns, bundles of cash I’d found hidden about the house, and boxes of vintage pornography. If I got pulled over and searched, I’d probably go to jail. If I had a wreck, money and porn...

Chris Offutt

My car contained guns, bundles of cash I’d found hidden about the house, and boxes of vintage pornography. If I got pulled over and searched, I’d probably go to jail. If I had a wreck, money and porn...

Most grandiose gestures are suspect—the couple who renew their vows just before divorce or the politician who publicly swears he’s clean, then enters rehab. Building

Chris Offutt

Most grandiose gestures are suspect—the couple who renew their vows just before divorce or the politician who publicly swears he’s clean, then enters rehab. Building

At the time I wasn’t even sure what she meant—what does anyone do? We mark time until we die. She was still waiting for an answer. My roommate filled the silence. He’s a writer, he said. Oh, she said....

Chris Offutt

At the time I wasn’t even sure what she meant—what does anyone do? We mark time until we die. She was still waiting for an answer. My roommate filled the silence. He’s a writer, he said. Oh, she said....

I’d forced myself to interact with so much pornography, I no longer regarded my wife in a sexual manner. Each time I tried, my mind filled with images of fetish porn. I could admire her dress, legs an...

Chris Offutt

I’d forced myself to interact with so much pornography, I no longer regarded my wife in a sexual manner. Each time I tried, my mind filled with images of fetish porn. I could admire her dress, legs an...

It was country dark. He closed his eyes, feeling safe.

Chris Offutt

It was country dark. He closed his eyes, feeling safe.

If you've used adverbs, look at them carefully. Adverbs are the weakest words; verbs are the strongest. Many, many times I've found that I have the wrong verb so I'm attempting to cheat and modify the...

Chris Offutt

If you've used adverbs, look at them carefully. Adverbs are the weakest words; verbs are the strongest. Many, many times I've found that I have the wrong verb so I'm attempting to cheat and modify the...

Time piles up like brush. You burn it in the fall and all you remember are the glowing cinders. I got ash heaps everywhere I look. -Old of the Moon

Chris Offutt

Time piles up like brush. You burn it in the fall and all you remember are the glowing cinders. I got ash heaps everywhere I look. -Old of the Moon

I don’t miss my father, but without his shackles to strain against, the world is terrifying and vast. I have lost a kind of purpose, a reason to prove myself.

Chris Offutt

I don’t miss my father, but without his shackles to strain against, the world is terrifying and vast. I have lost a kind of purpose, a reason to prove myself.

He wondered why a tree grew so close to the same water that would make it fall. Maybe trees were as greedy as people.

Chris Offutt

He wondered why a tree grew so close to the same water that would make it fall. Maybe trees were as greedy as people.

He left and I wished I could go somewhere and start all over, which is how I've felt all my life. As soon as I get somewhere, I'm ready to leave.

Chris Offutt

He left and I wished I could go somewhere and start all over, which is how I've felt all my life. As soon as I get somewhere, I'm ready to leave.

He demanded to know what I could learn from him, since my subject matter of Kentucky was unfathomably different from his—wealthy people on the East Coast. I became angry. Here was one more older man p...

Chris Offutt

He demanded to know what I could learn from him, since my subject matter of Kentucky was unfathomably different from his—wealthy people on the East Coast. I became angry. Here was one more older man p...