I've had failures, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't beneath me to pick up the phone and introduce myself to Bernard Malamud and say, "I'd like to introduce myself to you and to come meet you. I think I might have something that's worthy of your skills as a writer."
Lawrence SchillerAm I missing something because of my lack of education? Being an intellectual - I'm not. So I hire him as a corner man, like a boxer; he watches me and tells me what I do wrong before I go in for the next round. Barry thought he was going to write what became Executioner's Song, and I told him he wasn't going to. And Barry's closest friend was Joan Didion.
Lawrence SchillerI don't feel lonely. No no no. I feel like I'm jumping in a well that has no bottom, and at some point I know I'll hit bottom. I never put a time limit on it. I'm oblivious to anything except that which I'm doing.
Lawrence SchillerThere are major writers who have written books [based on my research]. If one looks carefully at the copyright page, you'll see my name. Writers of the stature of Mailer and even bigger. All over the world.
Lawrence Schiller