I had also got used to the idea that here [in the UK] you can make quips all the time and in America that can be very dangerous. I wrote about it in one of the books. Once I was going through customs and immigration in Boston, and the guy said as I went past 'Any fruit or vegetables?' and I said 'OK, I'll have four pounds of potatoes if they are fresh' and it was like he was going to take me off and pin me to the floor.

I really was more intent on getting out of Iowa than everybody else. I just felt I didn't quite fit in exactly, the way other people did. Then I came here and …

Well, I didn't ever think about Australia much. To me Australia had never been very interesting, it was just something that happened in the background. It was …

There was a lot more joking going on when I was a kid. My dad, for instance, specialised in puns and I remember once we were on vacation in California and we w…

France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.

(When) the people of the land no longer have the power to select and install their leaders, the chiefs lose their mana or power.

I'd rather be in Las Vegas 104 degrees than New York 90 degrees, you know why? Legalized prostitution. In any weather that takes the edge off.