I Loved Cowboy Films And Tv Series,

There's A Practical Problem About Time And Energy, And A More Subtle Problem Of What It Does To A Writer's Head, To Continually Analyze Why They Write, Where It All Comes From, Where It's Going To.

Now Naturally, Like Many Of Us, I Have A Reluctance To Change Too Much Of The Old Ways.

Throughout My Career I've Struggled To Encourage People To Read My Books On A More Metaphorical Level. I'm Less Attached To My Settings Than, For Example, Saul Bellow. The Setting Of A Novel For Me Is Just A Part Of The Technique. I Choose It At The End.

I Think Of My Pile Of Old Paperbacks, Their Pages Gone Wobbly, Like They'd Once Belonged To The Sea.

I Think I Had Actually Served My Apprenticeship As A Writer Of Fiction By Writing All Those Songs. I Had Already Been Through Phases Of Autobiographical Or Experimental Stuff.