I met The Beatles and Stones at the same time, because Michael Cooper was doing several of their album covers.

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.

I met Claxton on the set of The Cincinnati Kid.

Sometimes we would be staked out in the middle of the river, several barges tied together. So we could party.

I learned not to care ... and to write for an imaginary reader whose tastes were similar to my own.

After Strangelove I also started work on an adaptation of The Collector.

When Kubrick decided to go the black comedy route with his movie, he thought of me to give it that flavor.