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Inhale and Exhale! I said, “Bill, I know you have a very low opinion of publishers, but if you think that I've forgotten these stories that we fought over until blood flowed, you're crazy. They were unpublishable stories six months ago and I still think they are.” And he said, “There are ten publishers who would do this.” He was by now famous. I said, “I know you're right. Take them to one of them.” So he took them to Harcourt, Brace and they published the book. It was a complete failure. I was very pleased with myself, and then he wrote The Human Comedy, which was a Book-of-the-Month Club choice and a great hit! But we remained friends.

Did he have a poor idea of publishers?

No. Bill was just a very cocky fellow. He thought he knew everything. He was an Armenian, you know.

Do you think that he was just the kind of man who was born with a gift to write? I mean, you told me about this going to a play. There are not too many people who can feel so confident. Did he just have a way with words?

He was a great story-teller. He had a great lore of stories. I think that he overplayed it and I think his recent work is very unfortunate. He's written a lot of fourth-rate stuff. He doesn't take enough time. But he's got great skill, and, as I said, incredible cockiness.