It's In Great Joy That We Grasp

One Of The Things That Struck Me As Unique About Hollywood Is That I Never Had Bad Meetings. There Were All Enthusiastic, But Meaninglessly Enthusiastic.

As Far As What I Do, My Value As A Writer Is Certainly Not To Try To Recapitulate A 19th Century Form. Certain Styles Of Narrative Don't Conform To My Style Of Experiencing The World.

I Have An Enduring, Very Robust Infatuation With Dictators. I Have An Infatuation With Stalin, Mao, And Mussolini. In The Paris Review Interview I Did (in 2013), I Said My Next Book, This One, Was Going To Be About Mussolini. I Wound Up Only Having A Mussolini Cameo In The Book.

I Always Thought Of My Work As Being Animated By A Spirit Of Unhinged Generosity.

In Me, Speaking Psychologically, There Is Always An Ongoing Struggle Between My Enormously Self-regarding, Almost Delusionally Aspirational, Napoleonic Personality And A Marginalized One.