“He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next”

“Billy is spastic in time, has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren't necessarily fun. He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next.”

“As I say, all all he wanted from the manuscript was the string. That was the way he was. Nobody could predict what he was going to be interested in next. On the day of the bomb it was string. [...] He had no use at all for tricks and games and rules that other people made up.”

“But he is tired. He puts the pistol to his head again. He says, “I never asked to be born in the first place.”

“Fraugh!” cried the sleeper, as though he suddenly understood all.“Braugh!” he cried, not liking at all what he suddenly understood.“Sup-foe!” he said, saying in no uncertain terms what he was going to do about it.“Floof!” he cried.”

“A pissant is somebody who thinks he’s so damn smart, he can never keep his mouth shut. No matter what anybody says, he’s got to argue with it. You say you like something, and, by God, he’ll tell you why you’re wrong to like it. A pissant does his best to make you feel like a boob all the time. No matter what you say, he knows better.”

“I'm simply interested in what is going to happen next. I don't think I can control my life or my writing. Every other writer I know feels he is steering himself, and I don't have that feeling. I don't have that sort of control. I'm simply becoming. I'm startled that I became a writer.”