Quote

I don't read reviews because by then it's too late - whatever anyone says, the book won't change. It is written.

I rarely read or buy a book because of a review.

Writing is exhilarating, but reading reviews is not. I've been really devastated by 'good' reviews because they misunderstand the project of the book. It can be strangely galvanising to get a 'bad' one.

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

Most books reviews aren't very well-written. They tend to be more about the reviewer than the book.

After each book, I get panicky. I don't love the reviews. I don't like going through all that, and you would think that, after almost 40 years of writing, I'd have got the hang of it.

I've had a lot of books rejected in my time. My first novel, which didn't get published, was, with hindsight, crashingly dull.

The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.

I was twenty-seven when I began to write seriously, and after two years of rejections, my first book, 'The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo,' was accepted for publication.