In the U.S., it is a crime to lie to a federal agent, and it’s often this that sends people to jail over financial matters. John Lanchester Read Quote
I write non-fiction quicker, and I write it on a computer. Fiction I write longhand, and that helps make it clear that it comes from a slightly different part of the brain, I think. John Lanchester Read Quote
I think the Internet was invented specifically to stop people finishing their books. And it does quite a good job. I don’t have blocking software, though I could easily imagine needing it. I just don’t do that stuff until I’ve got the words done for the day. John Lanchester Read Quote
It doesn’t thrill me to bits that the state has to use the tools of electronic surveillance to keep us safe, but it seems clear to me that it does, and that our right to privacy needs to be qualified, just as our other rights are qualified, in the interest of general security and the common good. John Lanchester Read Quote
People misunderstand what a police state is. It isn’t a country where the police strut around in jackboots; it’s a country where the police can do anything they like. Similarly, a security state is one in which the security establishment can do anything it likes. John Lanchester Read Quote
I love London in the rare parts of the year when it’s quiet, and no time is more reliably quiet than the week between Christmas and New Year. John Lanchester Read Quote
Chefs get sucked into the trap of ‘fine dining’ because some guides make it central to their ratings system and because some customers have been trained to focus their expectations on the trappings and not on the food. It’s all a gigantic waste of energy. John Lanchester Read Quote
Fine dining.’ I’d love to know who coined the term and whether they meant it to be as offputting as it is. The words evoke an idea of phoney refinement, of needless flummery, snooty waiters, and an atmosphere designed to intimidate the customer. John Lanchester Read Quote
Celebrity farmer. Now there’s a phrase that should be an oxymoron. There are farmers on both sides of my family, and I can attest that the overlap between the way farmers live, work and think, and celebrity culture, is exactly 0%. John Lanchester Read Quote
