But I Hang On To Books. I

All I Write About Is What's Happened To Me And To People I Know, And The Better I Know Them, The More Likely They Are To Be Written About.

There Are Some Friends You Don't Meet For Twenty Years And When You Meet Them Again It's As If No Twenty Years Has Happened - You're Lucky When That Happens. I Feel The Same About Books.

And Some Poets Are Far Better Read Off The Page Because They're Very Bad Speakers. I'm Thinking Of One In Particular Whom I Won't Name, A Good Poet, And He Reads In Such A Dry, Boring Way, Your Eyes Start Drooping.

I Don't Care Whether A Book Is A First Edition Or Not. I'm Not A Bibliophile In That Word's Natural Sense.

When I Talk Of Hearing A Poet's Voice Speaking, I Always Think Of It As In The Presence Of The Man.