Then there are other moments, of course, when it seems, oh, God, you just do it over and over again. You try to make it different, but it is always the same thing. At least in my case I certainly don't feel that I want just to have the same repertoire all my life. Included in the ''Reader'' are 17 chapters of ''The Benefactor'' and the end of ''Death Kit,'' excerpts that stand by themselves. Certainly I never felt consciously or unconsciously that there was any conflict between my vocation and being a woman.
Writing is the one art, perhaps, where there are a great many first-rate women.
They seem to internalize some kind of inhibition. They don't seem able to mobilize their energy. Well, it can be a problem for anyone. I certainly know men who can be described that way. I never thought, There are women writers, so this is something I can be.