The perfect life, the perfect lie, I realised after Christmas, is one which prevents you from doing that which you would ideally have done (painted, say, or written unpublishable poetry) but which, in fact, you have no wish to do. People need to feel that they have been thwarted by circumstances from pursuing the life which, had they led it, they would not have wanted; whereas the life they really want is precisely a compound of all those thwarting circumstances.
Geoff DyerWhat I'm really interested in, as a reader and as a writer, is the idea of the nonfiction book that is not defined by its content, by its "about"-ness. Where you read it irrespective of whether you're interested in the subject.
Geoff DyerBeware of clichรฉs. Not just the ยญclichรฉs that Martin Amis is at war with. There are clichรฉs of response as well as expression. There are clichรฉs of observation and of thought - even of conception. Many novels, even quite a few adequately written ones, are ยญclichรฉs of form which conform to clichรฉs of expectation.
Geoff DyerQuite often, ambition operates on a level of irritation. Not even jealousy, just irritation.
Geoff DyerThe only distinction I'd make is between film and telly, I guess. "Film," "movies," and "cinema" are all synonyms as far as I'm concerned; but telly is different. It's just a plodding we've-done-this-scene, we've-done-that-scene and it never becomes this new other thing.
Geoff Dyer