On that last question . . . I might be compared to many writers such as Hemingway and Chandler and even Faulkner . . . on the basis of how many bottles of liquor I’ve emptied – alone and with a fantastic host of helpful, erudite folks – along the way to the page and the next page and so on . . .

I didn’t add that to the interview for whatever reason – not sure, really – but I want to mention it now because I saw “Love Song to Bobby Long” again the other night, and he has a line (likely quoted from someone) that struck me: “Take away the bottle; take away the genie.”

I love the quote, but I’ll be the first to say it’s romantic nonsense. A man makes himself; woman makes herself.