I always wanted praise and I always wanted attention; I won't lie to you. I was a jazz critic and that wasn't good enough for me. I wanted people to write about me, not me about them. So I thought, What could I do? I can't sing, I can't dance, I can't act or anything like that. OK, I can write.

People who are readers of fiction aren't particularly interested in comic books.

Life is about women, gigs, an' bein' creative.

I decided I was going to tell these stories. I went around and met Crumb. He was the cartoonist. I started realizing comics weren't just kid stuff.

Comics are words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures.

I wanted to write literature that pushed people into their lives rather than helping people escape from them.

I'm sure someone out there has a workable solution. But what do I know? I make comic books and write about jazz. I do know the difference between right and wrong, though.