Never eat in a place called 'Mom's'.

Never lie down with a woman who's got more troubles than you.

And never, ever, no matter what else you do in your whole life, never sleep with anyone whose troubles are worse than your own.

Any writer who knows what he's doing isn't doing very much.

The devil lives in a double-shot", Roman explains himself obscurely. "I got a great worm inside. Gnaws and gnaws. Every day I drown him and every day he gnaws. Help me drown the worm, fellas.

Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

Our myths are so many, our vision so dim, our self-deception so deep and our smugness so gross that scarcely any way now remains of reporting the American Century except from behind the billboards.