Insomniac is an impassioned work-an inspired amalgam of academic and first-hand research, memoir, analysis, and the kind of obsessive brooding we associate with the insomniac state. Much here is fascinating, and much is upsetting; here is a cri de coeur from a lifetime insomniac that is sure to appeal to the vast army of fellow insomniacs the world over.

Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a peanut with your nose across a very dirty floor.

Writing allows for fictitious voices - the voices of persons unlike myself - that might otherwise be muted.

Technique holds a reader from sentence to sentence, but only content will stay in his mind.

The greatest works of literature seem to embody both "art" and "morality".

It is important for me to discover the ideal title, for without this title the story or novel isn't quite in focus.

You are writing for your contemporaries - not for Posterity. If you are lucky, your contemporaries will become Posterity.