“Unlocking the Secrets of Unfulfilled Aspirations: Brian Lee Knopp Dives Deep in ‘Dreams I’m Never Gonna See'”
Knopp: Ah, you know, I have usually dodged that question, or complicated it so much with overthinking that my answer was a complete mess, like trying to pick up one fishhook out of a bowl of fishhooks. But I am older now, no more places to hide and less energy to find new ones. So… here goes.
The first culprit would be James Herriot, the Scottish veterinarian and author of All Creatures Great and Small. Dickens and Steinbeck, for sure, but not so much stylistically but rather as an outlook on life and championing the underdogs. Ken Kesey—huge huge influence. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—the struggle of one working class man standing up against The Combine—informed all of my life choices if not all of my writing endeavors. My favorite author quotation and daily writing philosophy comes from Kesey, a line taken from Sometimes a Great Notion: “The job of a writer is to kiss no ass, no matter how big and holy and white and powerful and tempting.”
