I Feel Very Lucky And Privileged To

I Feel Very Lucky And Privileged To Be A Writer. I Feel Lucky In The Sense That I Can Branch Out Into Prose And Tell Different Kinds Of Stories And Stuff. But Being A Writer Is So Great Because Youre Literally Not Dependent On Anybody.

My First Job Was With The Burns Detective Agency. They Sent Me Over To The East River To Guard Coal Barges During These God-awful Hours Like Three To Six In The Morning. It Wasn't A Very Difficult Job -- All I Had To Do Was Make A Round Every Fifteen Minutes -- But It Turned Out To Be A Great Environment For Writing. I Was Completely Alone In A Little Outhouse With An Electric Heater And A Little Desk.

I Don't Get Offered Leading Parts. I Suppose I've Become A Kind Of Character Actor Or Sideman. I Think It Had To Do With Probably In The '90s, I Refused So Many Leading Roles That They Gave Up On Me, Or I Just Became Unpopular, Or I Became Old. All Those Reasons.

I Was In The War. I Know How To Kill. I Was Over There. I Know How To Do It. I've Done It Before. It's No Big Deal. You Just Make An Adjustment. You Convince Yourself It's All Right. That's All. It's Easy. You Just Slaughter Them.

You Can't Make A Living As A Playwright. You Can Barely Scrape By.