The Writer, Like The Murderer, Needs A

Society Mediates Between The Extremes Of, On The One Hand, Intolerably Strict Morality And, On The Other, Dangerously Anarchic Permissiveness Through An Unspoken Agreement Whereby We Are Given Leave To Bend The Rules Of The Strictest Morality, Provided We Do So Quietly And Discreetly. Hypocrisy Is The Grease That Keeps Society Functioning In An Agreeable Way, By Allowing For Human Fallibility And Reconciling The Seemingly Irreconcilable Human Needs For Order And Pleasure.

Journalists Justify Their Treachery In Various Ways According To Their Temperaments. The More Pompous Talk About Freedom Of Speech And ‘the Public’s Right To Know’; The Least Talented Talk About Art; The Seemliest Murmur About Earning A Living.

The Camera Is Simply Not The Supple And Powerful Instrument Of Description That The Pen Is.

The Heavy Odds Against Finding The Desired... Work Of Art In The Mess And Flux Of Life, As Opposed To The Serene Orderliness Of Imagined Reality, Give A Special Tense Dazzle And An Atmosphere Of Tour De Force To Any Photographs That Succeed In The Search.

Poets And Novelists And Playwrights Make Themselves, Against Terrible Resistances, Give Over What The Rest Of Us Keep Safely Locked Within Our Hearts.