It's Amazing How Much Punishment We Can

I Don’t Ask Writers About Their Work Habits. I Really Don’t Care. Joyce Carol Oates Says Somewhere That When Writers Ask Each Other What Time They Start Working And When They Finish And How Much Time They Take For Lunch, They’re Actually Trying To Find Out, "is He As Crazy As I Am?" I Don’t Need That Question Answered.

You Asked If I Thought My Fiction Had Changed Anything In The Culture And The Answer Is No. Sure, There's Been Some Scandal, But People Are Scandalized All The Time; It's A Way Of Life For Them. It Doesn't Mean A Thing. If You Ask If I Want My Fiction To Change Anything In The Culture, The Answer Is Still No. What I Want Is To Possess My Readers While They Are Reading My Book — If I Can, To Possess Them In Ways That Other Writers Don't. Then Let Them Return, Just As They Were, To A World Where Everybody Else Is Working To Change, Persuade, Tempt, And Control Them.

My God! The English Language Is A Form Of Communication! Conversation Isn't Just Crossfire Where You Shoot And Get Shot At! Where You've Got To Duck For Your Life And Aim To Kill! Words Aren't Only Bombs And Bullets — No, They're Little Gifts, Containing Meanings!

Satire Is Moral Outrage Transformed Into Comic Art.

There’s No Remaking Reality... Just Take It As It Comes. Hold Your Ground And Take It As It Comes. There’s No Other Way.