The fact is that I am always thinking of something to build. A new book, radio show, plans for a trip somewhere. I am not a very happy person but I feel pretty even when I am working, so I guess that is how I am wired.

Unsurprisingly, Nelson Mandela had and still has many detractors.

I get along with Australians really well. Everyone's usually really cool, and it's always a drag to leave.

Let's pretend my career in music is a bell. Whether you like my music or not is up to you. But you've got to admit I rang that bell pretty hard and pretty often.

Entertainment's hard on the ego. I see why actors are so psycho now. Because there's so much 'we don't want you' going on in acting. Even big people get rejected but the smaller people - they really get rejected. Trust me - I know.

You can't right the wrongs because you'll never understand the cause and you'll be too busy dodging the effect.

I write what I can. I think being able to write like Michael Connelly and have a character that goes from novel to novel, or to dramatize history like Vidal or Ellroy, or have an explosively inventive mind like Bulgakov, would be an incredible thing. I don't have that. I only have what I have.