When I went to the University of Iowa in order to be a writer, I thought, This is the worst way to learn how to write. To sit in a room with a bunch of would-be writers, who want to write the Great American Novel, every one of them, and you read their stories and they read yours, and you're not living a life. I don't like that. I like learning on the job. The character of my work has definitely evolved from the character of my life.

When I went to the University of Iowa in order to be a writer, I thought, This is the worst way to learn how to write. To sit in a room with a bunch of would-be writers, who want to write the Great American Novel, every one of them, and you read their stories and they read yours, and you're not living a life. I don't like that. I like learning on the job. The character of my work has definitely evolved from the character of my life.

You've got to destroy a few lives on the way to where you want to get.

I found it extremely annoying when somebody would say something like "You seem to be influenced by Ken Nordine." And I didn't even know who Ken Nordine was.

Listen, you listen to the work and you decide whether you want to support it. But don't ask me why I'm doing it, because I really do not know the answer.

Stop at nothing to get the best work that you can get. Betray, violate, cause enormous harm.

Don't pull your love out on me baby.