I Would Like To Provoke Ambiguous Responses

I Am A Master Of Fiction. I Am Also The Greatest Crime Novelist Who Ever Lived. I Am To The Crime Novel In Specific What Tolstoy Is To The Russian Novel And What Beethoven Is To Music.

Where’s Your Sketch Pad?” I Asked. … “i Gave That Up,” Kay Said. “i Wasn’t Very Good, So I Changed My Major.” “to What?” “to Pre-med, Then Psychology, Then English Lit, Then History.” “i Like A Woman Who Knows What She Wants.” Kay Smiled. “so Do I, But I Don’t Know Any.

I Cleaned Up. I Quit Drinking, I Quit Doing Drugs, I Quit Stealing, I Quit Breaking Into Houses, I Tried To Quit Being A Bad Human Being. I Developed A Conscience Later In Life Than Many. I Call It The Lost-time-regained Dynamic.

I Begin By Assembling Notes On Characters. Large Swaths Of The Plot Become Clear To Me As I Do This.

The 1950s To Me Is Darkness, Hidden History, Perversion Behind Most Doors Waiting To Creep Out. The 1950s To Most People Is Kitsch And Mickey Mouse Watches And All This Intolerable Stuff.