The Deep South might be wretched, but it can howl.

I always intended to be light and open. I misjudged the American audience.

I wanted very much to be Miles Davis when I was a boy, but without the practice. It just looked like an endless road.

I grew up when people seemed actually to be hurting themselves for their art. Of course, some of it was phony.

The alcohol had the code and mystery about it as a writer's drug, but I'm glad that's been debunked. But the trouble with the drinking, much as I hate to admit it, is it helped the work.

The wild stuff is all so overrated. Drinking, you don't feel good all the time. There's a lot of down, a lot of misery.

I wake my wife up at 3 a.m. and say, "Listen to this!"