“Martin, rather than step into the spotlight, would prefer to die in an unarmed attack on the power station supplying its electric current. His genuine modesty is the main reason for the fateful discrepancy between him and the journalistic literary sexton beetles who make copy out of him: they would like to receive the degree of attention that he would like to avoid, and the clearer it becomes that he would like to avoid it, the more they resent him for failing to appreciate their generosity.”

— Clive James

On Martin Amis, p. 205
Memoirs, North Face of Soho (2006)

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Clive James 151

Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator an… 1939–2019

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