Childhood lays itself out, like a novel, he suggests, complete with central observer, fixed characters, and linear plot. Later, life disperses itself into anecdotes. At twenty-one, it no longer strictly matters whether the author went first to Ireland and then to Spain, or Spain first. And after thirty, he could stitch the pages in backward for all we care.

Beware the fictionist writing his own life. Even candor becomes a strategy.

That is the best story he could find in his life, never mind if it's the truest: an artist's duty is always to tell the best story.

It is possible that the malice of writers has been overrated (by myself among others). Reading their ruminations on their craft, one sees why this writer could…

When I was a little baby, I remember that one moment of calm peace, and three minutes after that, it was on.

Childhood is a short season.

The story of Soundgarden is my own story in a way, so why should I be afraid to talk about it? There's always a question that leads back to Soundgarden and I'm…