They were written in the early '90s when I was strapped for cash.

They were written in the early '90s when I was strapped for cash.

We were a cash-strapped park before the hurricane. Now we are an incredibly cash-strapped post-Hurricane Katrina park.

We are financially strapped,

The biggest markets for my books outside the UK are France and Italy, and those are the two countries where I also have the closest personal relationships with my translators - I don't know whether that's a coincidence, or if there's something to be learned from it.

I live a perfectly happy and comfortable life in Blair's Britain, but I can't work up much affection for the culture we've created for ourselves: it's too cynical, too knowing, too ironic, too empty of real value and meaning.