I did actually sit down with a blank sheet of paper once. I think the phone rang and that was the end of my literary career.

I used to think that prizes were damaging and divisive, until I got one, and now they seem sort of meaningful and important.

I think in the old days, everybody used to act really quickly because Hollywood was built by theatre people.

Anti-Semitism and Fascism have a long, mysterious, bewildering, poisonous and vile history and it's not exclusive to the Germans.

Anyone who can do the splits and come back up on the backbeat, as James Brown and Prince can, has my eternal respect. Prince, who is a genius of the highest order, can come back up while singing and playing the guitar.

In life, if you have an enthusiasm for what they call 'good manners,' sometimes people don't quite believe you. I've had that once or twice before, where they assume you can't be for real.

I have nothing against romanticism. I'm all for it. I'm helpless in the face of romance.