Vision, drive, and stamina
January 4th, 2006Another reason why I love William T. Vollmann:
“Now, the newfound attention from the book award is attracting new readers to Vollmann, who has long had a small but devoted following. Viking Press ordered another 35,000 paperbacks for the holidays, on top of the 8,500 it had already printed, said associate publisher Paul Slovak, Vollmann’s editor.
The award is “a validation of everything he’s tried to do as a writer and the risks he’s taken,” Slovak said. “He’s a very ambitious writer with a unique and kind of bold vision of what he wants to do, which is very attractive to me, an extravagant prose stylist and fabulous writer.”
This is much easier said than accomplished. I admire folks who will stand up for exactly what they believe in, and not compromise if it means alot to them. I have a hard time doing it, but have gotten better over the past few years. Vision, drive, and stamina. With all three in place, it’s hard to fail.