What do you do if you want to piss with the big dogs?

You must have massive intent. You must have high ambition.

I once wrote a story set in a baseball park, which I think is one of my best. Gordon read it and said, “I like this, too, but you should set this one in the kitchen!”

Why was it supposed to be set in a kitchen?

I was agitated. His advice made no sense and I didn’t take it. I assumed he was playing with me. But there was a book on my shelf—still there now!—“The Origins of European Thought,” the subtitle of which is “About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time, and Fate.” And I thought, I’ll show you! I’ll show everybody! I titled my first book “This Is About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time, and Fate.”

That’s how you piss with the big dogs.

Yes.

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https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/diane-williams-will-never-be-dutiful

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