But at the same time, I have trouble keeping things out of books, which is why I don't write short stories because they turn into novels.

You would go mad if you began to speculate about the impact your novel might have while you were still writing it.

As soon as you start writing about how human beings interact with each other socially, you're into politics, aren't you?

Objectivity is just male subjectivity.

For many weeks after [my wife] died, I could not get used to the feeling of coldness and lifelessness on her side of the bed - and it was even worse when they took the body away and buried her.

Writers never feel comfortable having labels attached to them, however accurate they are.

The more melancholy side of my literary personality is much in tune with BS Johnson's.