I also found out Hemingway lied all the time. His books are mostly lies. In some respects, I found a brother in arms. I’d been telling advertising porkies for years.

(…)

One of my biggest mistakes was wanting to write something sincere. That’s the death of any writer. The minute you try that, you’re a phony. Some writers seem to pull it off. They sound wise. Gore Vidal did a pretty good job of it, but he was the biggest phony going. The only guy who made his writing sound truly sincere was Jimmy Breslin.

(…)

We learned a lot from people like Nixon. Bukowski said, “I don’t have time for things that have no soul.” Nixon obviously never had one. Politics is soulless, entertainment is soulless. Advertising is about as soulless as Hell itself.

‘Things I’m Finally Willing To Admit About Writing’