Michael O'Donoghue was a very close friend of mine - very encouraging with my stuff, and really a great guy - but he was a no-kidding difficult person.

There's not a woman in the book, the plot hinges on unkindness to animals, and the black characters mostly drown by Chapter 29.

With the war in Iraq, I had the cooperation of the Department of Defense. Kuwait was pretty eager to get American journalists in there, to show us what a wonderful place they are, and what great allies they are to America, even though they didn't actually fight in the war.

The wonder is that communism lasted so long. But then again, modern poetry lasted a long time, too.

Because of their cuisine, Germans don't consider farting rude. They'd certainly be out of luck if they did.

Just as some things are too strange for fiction, others are too true for journalism.

It's better to make fun of yourself because you've always got someone around to make fun of, and they can't sue you.