From "Some Notes on Miss L" by Nathanael West

Forget the epic, the master work. In American fortunes do not acculmulate, the soil does not grow, families have no history. Leave slow growth to the book reviewers, you only have time to explode. Remember William Carlos Williams' description of the pioneer women who shot their children against the wilderness like cannonballs. Do the same with your novels.

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Psychology has nothing to do with reality nor should it be used as motivation. The novelist is no longer a psychologist. Psychology can become something much more important. The great body of case histories can be used int he way the ancient writers used their myths. Freud is your Bulfinch; you can not learn from him.

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The psychology is theirs not mine. The imagery is mine.

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I was serious therefore I could not be obscene.

I was honest therefore I could not be sordid.

A novelist can afford to be everything but dull.

"Some Notes on Miss L." Nathanael West: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Jay Martin.