If You're Old And You're Healthy And

I Know I've Done Good Work. I've Been Very Serious About My Writing, And I've Done The Best That I Could. But I Don't Feel That I've Done More Than I Should Have. In Fact, I've Done Less Than I Should Have.

I Do Lots Of Reading And Speaking At Many Universities About Literature And Also About Politics, Which Is As Much A Part Of My Life As The Literature.

You Become A Writer Because You Need To Become A Writer - Nothing Else.

I Didn't Write Any Fiction Until I Was Past Thirty.

I Loved The Comradeship Of The Sixties And The Seventies, And I Still Maintain Friendships With The People I Worked With Then - The Ones That Are Still Alive. That's One Of The Great Gifts Of Our Political Movements, Great Friendships . . . And Also A Few Enmities.