William T. Volman in Tin House

This bit comes from an interview with William T. Volman in the latest issue of Tin House (one of my favorite literary magazines, for those interested).

Question: When you look at yourself, do you think of yourself as an insider, or an outsider, in terms of the worlds that you go into?

Answer: I don't really think of it that way. I think we're all...alone. And all we can do is sometimes we can be alone with others and be slightly closer, and other times we can't. And sometimes people give themselves a very convincing illusion that they're not alone. And that's wonderful too-- if you believe it.

I guess I believe it. I can't believe that we're alone. From a fiction standpoint, sure, we're the alpha and the omega, crafting a world that only we control (which is really, really cool), but from a reality standpoint, I need some connections. I need to believe that somewhere there is someone who gets me, believes in me, and wants to be with me. Otherwise, it's just status quo, and that's just not what I'm looking for.

Onward we go...