Another solid volume of interviews, introducing me to Georges Simenon's wafty yet lucid way of going about writing (few rules, yet strictly governed by himself), John Cheever (even more out there, with some great points and interesting observations on writing and life), Ted Hughes getting me angry from his oh-Plath's-stuff-must've-been-displaced way of going about things...

The really, really interesting interviews are in my mind those with Martin Amis and Raymond Carver. Where Amis compares himself with his famous writer father (Kingsley Amis) and talks of how they differ and are very similar, not to mention how Martin Amis separates journalism from creative writing. Raymond Carver seems brutally honest in a gentle way, being very frank about his alcoholism and generally coming across as a writer I shall very much look forward to read.

Salman Rushdie comes across as a lad, really, but a well-read and quite funny lad. Not like Jan Morris, who talks about travel fiction, writing techniques, travels and his transexuality in relation to how if affects and has affected him as a writer, especially in relation to his trilogy books which he started writing as John Morris. Evelyn Waugh comes across as an Oscar Wilde-ish person, somewhat blasé.

Norman Mailer concludes the book in good fashion. He's a pretty down-to-earth interviewee and very interesting. Some nice points on Truman Capote.

All in all, another very interesting book. ( )