Exile as a mode of genius no longer exists; in place of Joyce we have the fragments of work appearing in Index on Censorship.

If you live in Europe . . . things change . . . but continuity never seems to break. You don't have to throw the past away.

A desert is a place without expectation.

The function of a writer is to make sense of life. It is such a mystery, it changes all the time, like the light.

a writer doesn't only need the time when he's actually writing - he or she has got to have time to think and time just to let things work out. Nothing is worse for this than society. Nothing is worse for this than the abrasive, if enjoyable, effect of other people.

Books dont need batteries

Power is something of which I am convinced there is no innocence this side of the womb.