The provincial intellectual is doomed to arguing at low level... there is still no Australian literary world, not in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide. It is some consolation to realise that there is no literary world in Birmingham or Los Angeles either. I have heard there is one in Montreal, but I don't believe it. The literary world is in London and New York, the only cities big enough to sustain magazines which can afford to reject copy.
Clive JamesThe British secret service was staffed at one point almost entirely by alcoholic homosexuals working for the KGB
Clive JamesWriting is a performance art for me. They're very closely aligned, writing and performing. But I'm a writer, not a performer.
Clive JamesCommon sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is just common sense, dancing. Those who lack humour are without judgment and should be trusted with nothing.
Clive James