theparisreview: “The truth I’m talking about is the stuff that gets distorted and compromised...

“The truth I’m talking about is the stuff that gets distorted and compromised every time you write something down or open your mouth to speak, because your priority when communicating isn’t to represent your thoughts or feelings exactly but to make sense, to appear sane and comprehensible and appealing. I like working within that impossibility.”

—Dennis Cooper, who turns sixty-two today.