Reading with David and Syd Shook on Sunset Boulevard, California in May 2012. The reading was organised by PEN USA and we read an extract from Gilgamesh Rising. My very generous friend Jerry Biers paid for us to stay at the Beverley Hills Hotel. Fantastic luxury. I could easily get used to it. What a fabulous experience!

Here I am on the way to Big Sur to worship at Jack Kerouac’s ocean shrine. We had just come from Monterey where John Steinbeck was/ is god. It was so great to be by the sea, in the open air and not stuck to a computer (as I am now!) Happy memories.