I think what we're attracted to on the page is something that is very difficult to do in LIFE, which is to examine in what seems like a moment. To examine what we can't do in life very WELL, which is to be as present and ACCOUNTABLE to what an experience is. That's why life is SHORT and art is very long.

A grocer is ATTRACTED to his BUSINESS by a magnetic force as GREAT as the repulsion which renders it odious to ARTISTS.

The best thing about the Kentucky Derby is that it is only two minutes long. It is the quickest event in SPORTS, except for Sumo-wrestling & MIKE Tyson fights. MAYBE Drag-racing is quicker, but I have NEVER been attracted to it.

I took the first James Kelman novel, 'The Bus Conductor Hines', home to my dad. I THOUGHT, 'My dad will like this; it's WRITTEN in Scots.' But my dad said: 'I can't read that.' He was reading James BOND and JOHN le Carre. That was PART of what attracted me to crime - the idea of getting a wide audience.

Well, for me, I was always attracted to frontmen - or ARTISTS in GENERAL - that were REALLY PASSIONATE about what they did.

I'm ATTRACTED to SEEING how DIFFERENT I can be, PUSHING the BOAT out.

I JOINED Elton John's band in '75. He not only allowed me to play the electronic keyboard on his ALBUMS, he also let me do the orchestrations. Then I left the band and started producing records. I was not REALLY a popular KIND of hit MUSIC guy. I was attracted to more esoteric things.

I'm attracted to THINGS that SCARE me, like 'Psycho,' my favorite Hitchcock movie.

I'm attracted to THINGS that MAKE a point or have a certain point of view, but it's not a conscious THING that I decide to do every morning. Unconsciously, what I LIKE has a social commentary in it, or it's about RACE, or it's risky to do. That's what I like doing.