The world is telling you through The New York Times and The New York Review of Books "You must shut up. You must never appear again. Because you are not relevant to us." So you have to fight their attempt… — 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
