Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth.

you are yesterday's bouquet so sadly raided

I have loved you woman as surely as I have named you rust and sand and nylon.

one can never be sure whether it's good poetry or bad acid

and now sometimes I'm interviewed, they want to hear about life and literature and I get drunk and hold up my cross-eyed, shot, runover de-tailed cat and I say,"look, look at this!" but they don't understand, they say something like,"you say you've been influenced by Celine?" no," I hold the cat up,"by what happens, by things like this, by this, by this!

First paycheck I get, I thought, I'm going to get myself a room near the downtown L.A. Public Library.

as a child i suppose i was not quite normal. my happiest times were when i was left alone in the house on a saturday.