"And you can tell the writers who do it - Robert Stone, for example, who with each new novel is doing something new. I appreciate that in other writers"
About this Quote
Wolff is praising a rare kind of literary courage: the willingness to risk competence. By singling out Robert Stone as a writer who is "doing something new" with each novel, he’s drawing a line between authors who refine a recognizable brand and those who treat every book as a fresh problem they haven’t solved yet. The dash - "Robert Stone, for example" - carries the sound of shop talk, writer-to-writer, a quick name-check that functions as both admiration and a subtle challenge to peers: you can feel when a novelist is repeating themselves, and you can feel when they’re out on the ledge.
The subtext is also about taste and ethics. Wolff came up in an American literary culture that often rewards the dependable "voice" - a marketable signature style, a stable set of themes. His compliment resists that professionalization. "You can tell the writers who do it" suggests experimentation leaves fingerprints: the prose changes temperature, the structure gets stranger, the risk shows. He’s arguing that novelty isn’t a gimmick; it’s evidence of attention, of a mind still moving.
Context matters: Stone, associated with morally charged, politically aware fiction, represents ambition that isn’t just technical but existential. Wolff’s final line, "I appreciate that in other writers", is understated on purpose. It reads like modest generosity, but it’s also a value statement about what writing should be: not the polishing of a persona, but the repeated act of starting over, publicly.
The subtext is also about taste and ethics. Wolff came up in an American literary culture that often rewards the dependable "voice" - a marketable signature style, a stable set of themes. His compliment resists that professionalization. "You can tell the writers who do it" suggests experimentation leaves fingerprints: the prose changes temperature, the structure gets stranger, the risk shows. He’s arguing that novelty isn’t a gimmick; it’s evidence of attention, of a mind still moving.
Context matters: Stone, associated with morally charged, politically aware fiction, represents ambition that isn’t just technical but existential. Wolff’s final line, "I appreciate that in other writers", is understated on purpose. It reads like modest generosity, but it’s also a value statement about what writing should be: not the polishing of a persona, but the repeated act of starting over, publicly.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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