I have no social position and I stay away from what is known as society as much as possible.

I have always regarded as a stroke of good fortune that I was not born or brought up in a small American town; they may be the backbone of the nation, but they are also the backbone of ignorance, bigotry, and boredom, all in vast quantities.

Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.

The Puritans left England for America not because they couldn't be Puritans in their mother country, but because they were not allowed to force others to become Puritans; in the New World, of course, they could and did.

Politically, of course, it's to the Right, but then the whole country is to the Right.

I have never been particularly impressed by the self centered musings of my fellow writers.

The British are absolutely hung up on class, and whenever they start to really - class for the English is like sex for Americans: They start to shake all over when the subject comes up.