When the prisoner is brought down from Death Row he steps from the elevator directly into a "holding" room that adjoins the witness room. There are two cells in this "holding" room, two, in case it's a double execution. They're ordinary cells, just like this one, and the prisoner spends his last night there before his execu­tion in the morning, reading, listening to the radio, playing cards with the guards.

I live in Brooklyn. By choice. Those ignorant of its allures are entitled to wonder why.

Rusty thinks I should smoke marijuana, and I did for a while, but it only makes me giggle.

I suppose you think I'm very brazen. Or très fou. Or something.' Not at all.' She seemed disappointed. 'Yes, you do. Everybody does. I don't mind. It's useful.

She is pure Alice in Wonderland, and her appearance and demeanor are a nicely judged mix of the Red Queen and a Flamingo.

A man who doesn't dream is like a man who doesn't sweat. He stores up a lot of poison.

The only obligation any artist can have is to himself. His work means nothing, otherwise. It has no meaning.