Writers must fortify themselves with pride and egotism as best they can. The process is analogous to using sandbags and loose timbers to protect a house against flood. Writers are vulnerable creatures like anyone else. For what do they have in reality? Not sandbags, not timbers. Just a flimsy reputation and a name.

Brian Aldiss (1925-2017) English writer, editor

Bury My Heart at W.H. Smith’s, “Apéritif” (1990)