An Urban Novelist Never Minds A Little

Most Of My Childhood Revolved Around Wondering When We Would Be Blown Up By The Russians. I Couldn't Stand The News, I Knew That If The Missile Were Launched, Mortality Would Arrive In Half An Hour, So I Spent A Lot Of My Childhood Feeling That I Was 30 Minutes From Being Dead.

If There's Anything Trollope Novels Always Take Seriously, It Is Money - How It Flows From One Character To Another, How It Is Managed, Who Has It, Who Deserves It, And What It Means To A Character, Male Or Female.

In The Traditional Urban Novel, There Is Only Survival Or Not. The Suburban Idea, The Conformist Idea, That Agony Can Be Seen To And Cured By Doctors Or Psychoanalysis Or Self-knowledge Is Nowhere To Be Found In The City. Talking Is A Way Of Life, But It Is Not A Cure. Same With Religion.

The Brave View Is That Talking It Out Helps Work It Out. Maybe The Realistic View Is That Talking It Out Inflames The Issues Further. But That Is America, Especially These Days.

Mom Was A Smoker. My Grandfather Was A Smoker. My Aunts Were Smokers. My Uncles Were Smokers. I Don't Know Any Smokers Now, Not Even My Mom.