Edmund White

Nothing lasts in New York. The life that is lived there, however, is as intense as it gets.

Paris can be like the land of the Lotus-Eaters. You can't leave.

I always feel I'm better known in England than I am here in the U.S. Americans don't read that much, and the French are very good at knowing the names of everybody.

Influenced by Pete Seeger and the Weavers, McLean proudly wore the mantle of troubadour in the early 1970s, when 'American Pie' topped the Billboard charts, and has never shed the cape.

I hate committing myself to anything. It's probably the lack of discipline, honestly. I'm probably a spoiled brat worried about getting my way every time.

By pouring money and goods into devastated regions, foreign aid workers sometimes compound the disruption and debauch the survivors.