My first visit to Haiti was in May 1991, four months into the initial term of Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. At the time, it seemed that Haiti was on the cusp of a new era. Ben Fountain More Quotes by Ben Fountain More Quotes From Ben Fountain Late bloomer' is another way of saying 'slow learner. Ben Fountain learners late way It is sort of weird being honored for the worst day of your life. Ben Fountain worst-day honored worst Somewhere along the way America became a giant mall with a country attached. Ben Fountain giants country america By the end of the first decade of writing, I considered myself a confirmed failure in the eyes of the world. Ben Fountain eye writing world I took two fiction-writing courses in college and majored in literature. I felt that I had a knack though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a talent. But it scared me. I felt it was a childish thing wanting to write and that I would forget about it eventually. Ben Fountain college writing two The strange, wonderful stories of Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain introduce us to the tremendously gifted Kirsten Menger-Anderson, a writer whose subject is nothing less than the diagnosis and cure of the human malady. We follow twelve generations of New York City's Steenwycks family through their forays into phrenology, mesmerism, radium therapy and similar misadventures, a historically rich narrative that Menger-Anderson delivers in striking, elegant prose and with a sure eye for detail. This is a remarkable debut by a writer to watch. Ben Fountain eye cities new-york I think if you spend much time dwelling on influence you can get self-conscious about every line you write. That's a great way to freeze up. Ben Fountain self writing thinking It took me 10 years to write a story that pleased me - that I could look at after it was published and not cringe. Ben Fountain writing looks years I'm ashamed and embarrassed to say that I've read very little of David Foster Wallace's work. It's a huge gap in my education, one of many. Ben Fountain gaps ashamed littles If you could figure out how to live with family then you'd gone a long way toward finding your peace. Ben Fountain gone long way I think I was lucky to come of age in a place and time - the American South in the 1960s and '70s - when the machine hadn't completely taken over life. The natural world was still the world, and machines - TV, telephone, cars - were still more or less ancillary, and computers were unheard of in everyday life. Ben Fountain car taken thinking I got brilliant stories from people who'd never set foot in an MFA program and had published very little, and terrible stories from people who'd published a lot and had all the credentials. It was all over the map and that was part of the fun. Ben Fountain feet fun people I never listen to music when I'm writing. Ben Fountain choral-music chamber-music writing The Kessler Theater is one such gem, an Art Deco beauty … for a slice of real life, there’s always the Kessler. Ben Fountain theater real art Americans are incredibly polite as long as they get what they want. Ben Fountain polite want long I'm a writer, not an editor, and though the editing rarely cut into my writing time, it did take away from that walking-around-thinking-about-it-when-you're-not-thinking-about-it time that I think is important for writers. When you're half-thinking about what you're working on while driving, cooking . . . just letting things sift and settle, come to you. Ben Fountain cutting writing thinking I have a horror of being self-indulgent and wasting time, and there is that risk in doing this kind of work. Are you totally deluded in sitting down at a desk every day and trying to write something? Is it self-indulgent, or might it possibly lead to something worthwhile? At a certain point I decided to keep on because I felt like the work was getting better, and I was taking great pleasure in that. Ben Fountain risk self writing Maybe the light's at the other end of the tunnel. Ben Fountain tunnels light ends You'd think family would be the one sure thing in life, the gimme? Points you got just for being born? So much thick, meaty stuff bound you to these people, so many interlocking spirals of history, genetics, common cause, and struggle that it should be the most basic of all drives, that you would strive to protect and love one another, yet this bond that should be the big no-brainer was in fact the hardest thing. Ben Fountain things-in-life struggle thinking I really had to decide why I was writing. I had no interest in going back to law; I very briefly - for about six hours - considered going to get my MBA, but in the end, I realized that the only work I really wanted to do was write. Ben Fountain mba law writing
