Belief is otiose; reality is sufficiently awesome as it stands.

I think writers are excited by stupidity and bad behavior, generally.

When policemen go to prison in England, they have as bad a time as a pedophile.

Oh Christ, the exhaustion of not knowing anything. It's so tiring and hard on the nerves. It really takes it out of you, not knowing anything. You're given comedy and miss all the jokes. Every hour you get weaker. Sometimes, as I sit alone in my flat in London and stare at the window, I think how dismal it is, how heavy, to watch the rain and not know why it falls.

The literary interview won't tell you what a writer is like. Far more compellingly to some, it will tell you what a writer is like to interview.

Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark - spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror. It's passing, yet I'm the one who's doing all the moving.

I think all writers have a bit of genius in them, and a bit of talent. Genius retreats but talent improves.