If the world is where we hide from ourselves, what do we do when the world is no longer accessible? We invent a false name, invent a destiny, purchase a firearm through the mail.
Don DeLilloIt's true that some of us become better writers by living long enough. But this is also how we become worse writers. The trick is to die in between.
Don DeLilloWriters in repressive societies are considered dangerous. That's why so many of them are in jail.
Don DeLilloIn this century the writer has carried on a conversation with madness. We might almost say of the twentieth-century writer that he aspires to madness. Some have made it, of course, and they hold special places in our regard. To a writer, madness is a final distillation of self, a final editing down. It's the drowning out of false voices.
Don DeLillo