Artists freeze themselves into these weird postures that are meant to be impressive and involving, then they fling them out into the world like Polaroids, and then they move on. And I'm stuck in this intense relationship to the Polaroid.

I want what we all want," said Carl. "To move certain parts of the interior of myself into the exterior world, to see if they can be embraced.

I don't paint anymore. I haven't since I abandoned it at 19, in order to begin writing seriously.

I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.

But the day I can't shrug off a twinge of self-pity, is the day I'm washed up for keeps.

I prefer old books and find them more relevant. I dislike new books. It's like drinking wine that's not ready.

A reader, encountering a sentence about a barking dog, would have to dwell on why that choice was made at that moment. Everything in a novel is explicitly chosen, whereas some of what a film captures feels incidental, according to the vagaries of photography and sound recording.