Dawn Powell Quote

I love it when you come across an author and you are
about 20 pages into the first novel you are reading by
that person and you realize you are eventually going read
every book they have written.

I was reading a book of essays by Gore Vidal last
year and he mentioned a hero of his that he felt
was going undeservedly unnoticed. Since he's
not one that dispenses praise indiscriminately,
I was intrigued. I picked up her last novel called
"The Golden Spur" which was a satire of the
beat generation's art scene. It was quite funny
and full of amazing characters. It was chock
full of the kind of writing that makes you close
a book, smile, shake your head and then go
back and read that last line while its context
is still fresh in your mind.

Now a quote from the current novel by her
I am reading called "The Locusts have no
King."

A man is leaving a bar with a woman he
has never been with before and they are
heading back to his place to consumate
their new relationship: "As they went
out the door he felt a rush of mingled
elation and fright as if his ship had just
lost sight of land."