No ascetic can be considered reliably sane.

The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite.

I had an attack of the gout two days before pulling out, and I went limping off to the war instead of coming limping back from it.

Henry Miller may write about revelers self-woven into a human hooked rug, because his ecstasy is solemn.

Newspapers write about other newspapers with circumspection, ... about themselves with awe, and only after mature reflection.

The only way to write is well and how you do it is your own damn business.

Forget that New Orleans is actually a little like the Combat Zone with French cooking, it still happens to be part of the great state of Louisiana where people play the political game the same way it's played in Lebanon. The place is one layer after another of tribes, factions and at least a million laughs.