As a poet or a novelist or a painter, you are pushing yourself all the time, always looking for a new way to approach something, challenging yourself and never, never trying to write the same book twice.

If the world weren't such a beautiful place, we might all turn into cynics

Money, of course, is never just money. It's always something else, and it's always something more, and it always has the last word.

Guilt kept me going. It was impossible not to blame myself for what had happened, but even guilt was a comfort. It was a human feeling, a sign that I was still attached to the same world that other men lived in.

I think there might be some pressure released while I'm doing autobiographical work, but afterwards everything remains the same.

Writing has always had a tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.

It's June second, he told himself. Try to remember that. This is New York, and tomorrow will be June third. If all goes well, the following day will be the fourth. But nothing is certain.