Everything was usual. That was depression: being stuck, clinging to an out-of-date version of oneself.

I'm really not responsible for what mental operation people have when they're reading my books other than the ones which are created by literary effects.

I see the author as the person who has written; the writer, the one involved in the process of writing. And they're not necessarily friends. The writer is the one I want to reinforce; the author would just feed on the reviews - so I'm in favour of starving him.

Well, the attractive thing about the subject of happiness is that it is notoriously difficult to write.

You can only give things up once they start to let you down.

The Booker 2011 is of no more interest to me than the world heavyweight championship, which I'm not going to win either. It's irrelevant.

Everything was usual. That was depression: being stuck, clinging to an out-of-date version of oneself.