My only failure was the restaurant in Myrtle Beach. I kept it open for four years. It was in a tourist town, it was only busy four and half, five months of the year. But the bills kept coming all year.

Back then I thought if you cut a record, you were automatically a star.

A record co. is just a vehicle for public appearances.

I've grown up with my audience; they're my age or older. Not a lot of kids are coming to see me.

I had to figure out how to survive in New York, and most of my time was occupied in getting an apartment and getting money. A lot of older jazz guys looked out for me and found me gigs and places to stay.

New York City is the financial capital of the world. The Dodd-Frank Act, I think, is going to change that. It's going to send jobs to London and Geneva and Hong Kong and Sydney instead of keeping New York the financial center of the world.

A political race today, even a primary, is $150 million. The whole political system has become obscene in terms of the absurd amount of money that is required to compete. Just put it on ESPN and call it a sporting event.

I believe my publisher has shown a great deal of faith in me over a lot of years but I'm not prepared to be so arrogant to say that the long-term literary value of my work would compensate them for a financial failure.