The night is the hardest time to be alive and 4am knows all my secrets.

Some nights are made for torture, or reflection, or the savoring of loneliness.

And I can't think of a reason I'd ever use a pseudonym, as I wouldn't want to publish something that I didn't like enough to put my name on it.

In France, for instance, one magazine writer was convinced that On The Road had been a huge influence on Lost Souls and was crushed to learn that I hadn't read the one until after I'd written the other.

Yeah, I think A Confederacy of Dunces is probably the perfect New Orleans book.

New Orleans cuisine is Creole rather than Cajun.