I feel like I'm not smart enough to answer the questions I'm asked.

Mailer is a genius. He's the one I most connect with in terms of fiction — his range is so wide. That's the sort of boldness I aspire to.

It should have been written already,

I locked myself in a room for a month,

Lunar Park came out of wanting to write a Stephen King novel. In 1989, I wanted to write two genre novels. I wanted to write a Stephen King novel and a Robert Ludlum novel. I loved those genres and those writers.

After spending three years with Patrick Bateman (from 1991's