The greatest danger of being gifted, is that you may never learn how to make an effort.

Miami, in many ways, is a quintessentially American city. The juxtaposition of showy wealth with dire pennilessness, the tussle of glitz and decay doesnt come any more marked than here.

One of my proudest achievements is that when an authoritative book about Hungarian literature came out about a decade ago, there was a little article about me which said I was a Hungarian writer but pretending not to be. Bearing in mind I can hardly write a cheque in Hungarian, I was delighted to be included in the pantheon of Hungarian writers.

No amount of intelligence can save you from stupidity.

As suburbs go, Bromley's not bad. But as David Bowie and Hanif Kureishi have observed, you do want to get out of there quickly.

I don't take much notice of reviews now - obviously you'd like to have straight worship but you're never going to get that.

A public role endures for the literary high-command, as sages and seers, speaking out on social and political issues.