The most important thing a writer can have [is] the ability to live with the constant loneliness and a strong sense of revulsion for the banalities of everyday socializing.

There might be some serious fun in politics.

Never fire a warning shot. It is a waste of ammunition.

As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer.

In some circles, the Mint 400 is a far, far better thing than the Superbowl, the Kentucky Derby, and the lower Oakland roller derby finals all rolled into one. This race attracts a very special breed.

The thing that was important to me about Hemingway at the time was that Hemingway taught me that you could be a writer and get away with it.

It was like falling down an elevator shaft and landing in a pool full of mermaids.