It might be the doing of Satan, in whom Aaron anxiously believed with all of his being except, perhaps, his mind.

Sleep with me sleep with my dogs-

Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile. In protest, I declined election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters some years ago, and now I must decline the Pulitzer Prize.

Writers have a rare power not given to anyone else: we can bore people long after we are dead.

Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes-it's still just work.

The cocktail filled him with a whirling exhilaration behind which he was aware of devastating desires—to rush places in fast motors, to kiss girls, to sing, to be witty. ... He perceived that he had gifts of profligacy which had been neglected. —chapter 8

Paris is one of the largest, and certainly it is the pleasantest, of modern American cities.