A German wine label is one of the things life's too short for, a daunting testimony to that peculiar nation's love of detail and organization.

I was never an Angry Young Man. I am angry only when I hit my thumb with a hammer.

A German wine label is one of the things life's too short for, a daunting testimony to that peculiar nation's love of detail and organization.

Outside every fat man there is an even fatter man trying to close in.

Whatever part drink may play in the writer's life, it must play none in his or her work.

When starting to think about any novel, part of the motive is: I'm going to show them, this time.

One of the great benefits of organised religion is that you can be forgiven your sins, which must be a wonderful thing. I mean, I carry my sins around with me, there's nobody there to forgive them.