During the 90s, I watched a lot of people getting fat and prosperous, and I thought, culture itself is the casualty of this.

My own sense is that fiction is inching its way over to join poetry on the cultural margin. It's an area of passionate concern for me, as for many people, but it's nowhere near as central to the culture as it used to be.

I'm going to write what I feel like writing, which is a great place to be. But it can be hard to get there. It's so easy to get stricken with one kind of self-consciousness or another.

When I moved to SF in my early 20s, I loved it, but I was absolutely astonished to discover that people there hated L.A. I was just like why? Really? I had no idea.

I do have complicated feelings about Hollywood, but I also have tremendously affectionate ones.

People will continue to make movies. But I do think the economic model of the studio movie is closing in on a kind of systemic collapse.

I think being central to the culture is overrated. Who really gives a damn if something is popular? Jay-Z isn't actually any better than James Joyce even though more people understand him.