On Henry Miller and voluntary poverty

After I got out of the drug game, and quit pretending to be interested in universities, I knew I had talent but I didn't really have anything particular to say. Some writers come out of the gate more or less ready, but generally it's a longer trajectory. It was a long-term goal, and I was committed to it, thinking I was a genius. I liked Henry Miller, and it seemed like he had earned an independence that was a worthy goal. He suffered a lot and read a lot, and by the time he emerged from the sewer he was at least inwardly resplendent. He became a diamond, a law unto himself. So that's partly why my life had such a bizarre arc, there were other factors like my earlier life, and the fact that my reading was always turning up new things, new discoveries. So that kept my head down for a long time. It wasn't always dignified, for seven years I didn't have my own bathroom, but it paid off. That's why I say, I'm not quite built like mortals.