Michael Tolkin

One of the things I learned from my father, and it did not serve me well at all, was that he was a successful writer, he earned a living. And it was a shock for me to find out that it was actually hard to make a living as a writer.

Come to think of it, Pasadena's as good a place to die as any.

I've yet to meet a writer who could change water into wine, and we have a tendency to treat them like that.

I went to Spago once, eight years ago. I had just closed a deal. I thought it would be fun to go to Spago and it wasn't. I got a bad table and nobody paid any attention to me.

On one level, nothing's really changed in my life. I still drive my daughter in the car pool on Monday. But it's impossible not to be aware of this rush of attention; it's impossible not to be seduced by it once you've entered into it, seduced by being unhappy when the attention wanes.

It's impossible not to be taken in by the spectacle of oneself, which is the biggest sin of the culture right now.