My workspace is defined by books, ephemera, quiet and light. I don't have a computer, telephone or a fax machine there.

The most inspiring objects are books. I have about 5,000 volumes in my home library. It's an unending source of visuals and ideas.

The fax machine had been unplugged at the other end.

I said to myself, how could anyone not have illustrated this before?

The Elements of Style.

I started looking at it, ... and I thought, 'Oh my God, this is like Gertrude Stein wrote this book.' It's so funny and so eccentric. The imagery was so clear that I knew immediately that I was going to illustrate it.