Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can never be sculpture. It can be elegant and very beautiful, but it can never be sculpture. Captive to facts — or predetermined forms — it cannot fly.


The Paris Review (Spring 1999)

Peter Matthiessen Quotes

Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can never be sculpture. It can be elegant and very beautiful, but it can never be sculpture....

Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can never be sculpture. It can be elegant and very beautiful, but it can never be sculpture....

Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can never be sculpture. It can be elegant and very beautiful, but it can never be sculpture....

Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can never be sculpture. It can be elegant and very beautiful, but it can never be sculpture....