American Journal

An extract. I'm 23 years old.

24th of July 1983

New Orleans

You would be surprised at how important this writing thing is to me. It is in a sense mother's milk. I cherish it, it fulfils me. It makes me concentrate, it makes me think, no one answers back. But, and this is the rub, as with my photography, I know I’m only playing at it. I like to be smart with it, sometimes, but really it’s not good. I’ve always got an excuse . . . too tired, too hot, too hungry. If I have learned one thing in life it is that perfect conditions never exist. It is what you do under hardship that counts. The winner always has a hard luck story, too, only they never have to use it.