If you're a writer, you have to be an egomaniac. You have to just believe in yourself, which is hard work. — James Purdy Copy Share Image
“Pleasure died forty years ago in America, perhaps further back, in a wave of carbon monoxide, gasoline, cigarettes for dames, the belief in everything… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
Feeling is taboo, especially in New York. I read in some little magazine the other day that The New Yorker and The New York… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
I am against all machines. It's no wonder that so many Americans go on dope when they have no other cultural stimulus than a… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
There's the world of the newspapers. They believe that what is happening is happening, which is so naïve. Because they're the first to turn… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
Margaret Meade is always running around saying that marijuana's just like bread and water! Well, bread and water are poison, and marijuana's a poison.… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
I don't have any home. Everyone I grew up with, my family, are all dead. So I feel kind of like a ghost. I'm… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
“Writing is like a battle. You’re often so into it you don’t have any high ideals. You’re just doing it. I have all these… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
None of my books are best-sellers. In fact, the only thing that's kept me alive is the books that are in paperback. People find… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
Television masturbates its audience even though the audience is not really watching. It masturbates orifices the audience doesn't have. It sticks holes in the… — James Purdy Copy Share Image
