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One of the things I've tried to do in my career is really write different kinds of books, so I'm able to broaden people's expectations of what I'm allowed to do.

When you write a book for publication, you're writing it for other people to read.

Perhaps it would be better not to be a writer, but if you must, then write.

I am a big believer in the fact that all authors really write only one book.

Being an author is always like being a well-run dictatorship - it's all one person speaking.

I have written 20 books, and each one is like having a baby. Writing is not easy; some people want to write books but just can't put a story together. I can put together a story that interests both me and my readers.

I don't see that books can be written without political context - not if they're relevant and ambitious.

If I haven't any talent for writing books or newspaper articles, well, then I can always write for myself.

Writing a book is a very lonely business. You are totally cut off from the rest of the world, submerged in your obsessions and memories.

I don't think I would do better books if I wrote full time. I write for amateurish reasons.