I must say in my years at Harvard I spent more time reading American novelists than I was ever able to do again. I think I probably read every good American novelist there was at that time. I was also very open at the time, so I could see all the merits of someone like J.P. Marquand, some of the semi-good writers, you know? Not semi-good — semi-major writers. I loved Thomas Wolfe, another example of excess, simple excess. Excess that was available to a young man in the way — Faulkner’s excess was much more sophisticated. You know, it would omit some — all — of his baroque complexities. There was his deep sense of tragedy and waste. Waste at a very high level. So, it was the most exciting time in my life and I think if you can’t get excited by writing when you are a young writer, you really should question whether you want to be a writer.