The William Saroyan Reader

"I refused to believe that my father was dead.
....
I wanted to cause the impossible to happen, because if I was able to do that, I knew I would be able to cause anything to happen. Thus, death would not be death, if anybody wanted it not to be."


"In short, I began to write in order to get even on death. I have continued to write for many reasons. A long time a go I said I write because it is the only way I am willing to survive. Mainly, though, I write because I want to."