In 1962, I wrote a series about 42nd Street called 'Welcome to Lostville.' One result was that the young Bob Dylan read it and invited me to his first concert at Town Hall; the result was a kind of friendship that years later led to my liner notes for 'Blood on the Tracks.'

The Mafia exists in the American imagination because we want it to exist.

For those without money, the road to that treasure house of the imagination begins at the public library.

The most powerful force in American politics is not anger, it's nostalgia.

The Mafia exists in the American imagination because we want it to exist.

Everybody who went to Vietnam carries his or her own version of the war. Only 10 percent engaged in combat; the American elephant, pursuing the Vietnamese grasshopper, was extraordinarily heavy with logistical support.