13.5 Mrs. Wolfe asks whether Mr. Iqbal expects her Susan to undertake compulsory headstands. 13.6 Mr. Iqbal infers that, considering Susan's academic performance and weight problems, a headstand regime might be desirable.

And it's just anathema to being a writer. It's not healthy. But in another way, when I'm writing, what it's about for me is being good on the page. None of that noise could change the way I feel about my writing. Which is not always particularly positive.

World makers, social network makers, ask one question first: 'How can I do it?'

Sometimes, one wants to have the illusion that one is making ones own life, out of ones own resources.

The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life.

The object of the passion is just an accessory to the passion itself.

Anyone over the age of thirty catching a bus can consider himself a failure.