I had no idea where these kids at a small private college in the San Fernando Valley were coming from, why they were coming to hear me, or what they needed to know.

It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody else's novel.

My rejection of the idea of entertainment in its current form is based on the audience that comes with it.

I learned enough Hebrew to stagger through a meaningless ceremony that I scarcely remember.

While I've had a great distaste for what's usually called song in modern poetry or for what's usually called music, I really don't think of speech as so far from song.

The ancient Greek "oral poets" all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the muse to help them remember.

I reserve the right to tell shaggy dog stories or even common jokes as part of what I'm doing. I don't give a damn if half the audience walks out.