A Person Who Deserves My Loyalty Receives

I Was Giving A Speech One Time, And The Woman Who Introduced Me Said, 'well, She Used To Be J. D. Salinger's Girlfriend. I Thought, 'god, Is That All I've Been?' I Didn't Want To Be Reduced To That.

No, I Said. I Didn't Remember That. There Was So Much To Remember, Sometimes The Best Thing Was To Forget.

Long After Salinger Sent Me Away, I Continued To Believe His Standards And Expectations Were The Best Ones.

The Vehemence With Which Certain Critics Have Chosen Not Simply To Criticize What I've Written, But To Challenge My Writing This Story At All, Speaks Of What The Book Is About: Fear Of Disapproval.

I Do Not Outline. There Are Writers I Know And Count As My Friends Who Certainly Do It The Other Way But For Me Part Of The Adventure Is Not Knowing How It's Going To Turn Out.