〰️ “There is a place in us we’re seldom aware of that knows to be at peace and remain quiet in the face of any agitation, any worry, even any calamity.”

〰️ “I so wanted to tell stories that reminded human beings of what an incredible species we are. We are the worst things on earth—but also the best. So few people are aware of this as they war on each other.”

〰️ “Every wild thing still intact in this utterly brutal world strikes me as a miracle and moves me to the core.”

〰️ “The East touching my Westerness, inspiring my Westerness to try to house those beneficent touches in the geographical West, has been the story of my spiritual life.”

〰️ "When I stand in a river fly-fishing I sometimes fall into a place inside the seemingly finite place. It’s a mystery, this falling, and nothing I can count on or cause.... Amid a wave of sweet fatigue, I’ll lose all momentum, slide into a sense of flow, and suddenly I’m “outside” no longer. I’m in a place alive and interior.”

〰️ “Think about it: the only way any of us is going to live forever is if we already have.”

〰️ "Reasoning is important. But any form of reasoning that refuses to give way to intuition is like refusing to scrape the ice off your windshield before driving to work in the morning." —from Sun House

〰️ "Maybe the sacred, today, is someone misspelling ‘scared,’ then loving the skewed meaning caused by their misspelling. Maybe that reasonless loving is a sacred act." —from Sun House

〰️ "Any moderately clever cynic can make contemplative effort sound like a cheap rope trick. What the cynics never quite manage to see is the occasional sincere one, sometimes sitting right beside them, quietly weaving invisible rope out of whatever she can get her spiritual hands on. Once in a while, with astonishing focus, she then reaches up, attaches her rope to invisible pitons or climbing cams that faith alone enables her to feel, gives her rope a firm test yank and, if this ludicrous arrangement holds, begins shinnying her way up out of the pit of disillusionment and despair while the cynics, dropping away below, go on wittily yammering." —from Sun House

〰️ “There is a place in us we’re seldom aware of that knows to be at peace and remain quiet in the face of any agitation, any worry, even any calamity.” 〰️ “I so wanted to tell stories that reminded human beings of what an incredible species we are. We are the worst things on earth—but also the best. So few people are aware of this as they war on each other.” 〰️ “Every wild thing still intact in this utterly brutal world strikes me as a miracle and moves me to the core.” 〰️ “The East touching my Westerness, inspiring my Westerness to try to house those beneficent touches in the geographical West, has been the story of my spiritual life.” 〰️ "When I stand in a river fly-fishing I sometimes fall into a place inside the seemingly finite place. It’s a mystery, this falling, and nothing I can count on or cause.... Amid a wave of sweet fatigue, I’ll lose all momentum, slide into a sense of flow, and suddenly I’m “outside” no longer. I’m in a place alive and interior.” 〰️ “Think about it: the only way any of us is going to live forever is if we already have.” 〰️ "Reasoning is important. But any form of reasoning that refuses to give way to intuition is like refusing to scrape the ice off your windshield before driving to work in the morning." —from Sun House 〰️ "Maybe the sacred, today, is someone misspelling ‘scared,’ then loving the skewed meaning caused by their misspelling. Maybe that reasonless loving is a sacred act." —from Sun House 〰️ "Any moderately clever cynic can make contemplative effort sound like a cheap rope trick. What the cynics never quite manage to see is the occasional sincere one, sometimes sitting right beside them, quietly weaving invisible rope out of whatever she can get her spiritual hands on. Once in a while, with astonishing focus, she then reaches up, attaches her rope to invisible pitons or climbing cams that faith alone enables her to feel, gives her rope a firm test yank and, if this ludicrous arrangement holds, begins shinnying her way up out of the pit of disillusionment and despair while the cynics, dropping away below, go on wittily yammering." —from Sun House

David James Duncan

David James Duncan is the author of the cult-classic novels The River Why and The Brothers K, the story collection River Teeth, the nonfiction collection and National Book Award finalist, My Story as Told by Water, and the best-selling God Laughs & Plays. The release of his much-anticipated novel Sun House, which legendary editor Michael Pietsch “will immodestly call David’s magnum opus,” arrived with much critical acclaim, including this comment from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers (The Overstory): “The time, energy, focus, precision, invention, scholarship, fun, joy, love, courage and compassion that went into making this novel boggle my mind. Just contemplating its creation is a spiritual journey in itself. Finding this kind of expansive refreshment at this most narrow-minded moment in history is a gift.” 

David’s work has won three Pacific Northwest Booksellers Awards, two Pushcart Prizes, a Lannan Fellowship, the Western States Book Award, inclusion in Best American Sports Writing, Best American Catholic Writing, two volumes of Best American Essays, five volumes of Best American Spiritual Writing, an honorary doctorate from University of Portland, the American Library Association's 2004 Award for the Preservation of Intellectual Freedom (with co-author Wendell Berry), and other honors. David lives on a charming little trout stream in Missoula, Montana, in accord with his late friend Jim Harrison’s advice to finish his life disguised as a creek. 

Photo by Chris La Tray