I'd Love To Be A Saxophonist. I

Tremble, All Ye Oppressors Of The World!

The Bigger The Issue, The Smaller You Write. Remember That. You Don't Write About The Horrors Of War. No. You Write About A Kid's Burnt Socks Lying On The Road. You Pick The Smallest Manageable Part Of The Big Thing, And You Work Off The Resonance.

I Don't Write Police Stories, Per Se, But I Usually Write About Areas That Are Very Panoramic, Like Harlem, Or The Lower East Side, Or A Small Urban City Like Jersey City.

You Don't Write About The Horrors Of War. No. You Write About A Kid's Burnt Socks Lying In The Road.

I Don't Need All That Much - I Just Need To Know Who My Characters Are And What Kind Of Jam They're Going To Get Into, And I'll Write Myself Out Of Their Jam.