I never read articles about my books.

That’s the problem with educating girls’ said Spode, bitterly, ’they never stop resorting to fact.

Such diplomacy is not to be sneezed at, for the suit is a window to the soul: lightweight cotton when cash is tight, Italian cashmere when an inheritance lands; waistlines drawn in during illness or anxiety, and let out at times of excess. Weddings, funerals, christenings, and court appearances – all of life’s landmarks are sanctified, quietly and confidentially, by one’s tailor.

I’m a firm believer in thinking inside the box. The first thing I do when approaching a new project is to give myself rigid guidelines and precise limits. That’s how I begin to think. If I were told that I could create anything in any medium, using any amount of space and any amount of time, I’d stand in a field and scream.

Properly cared for, a Savile Row suit can be handed down the generations – like gout.

A great deal of American T.V. viewed on Hulu, which is superb - '30 Rock', for instance, is on very good form.

Writing 'Schottenfreude' has reinforced the fact that there are few, if any, emotions that have not been experienced, and analyzed, by some of the world's greatest writers.

The idea that I am cynical because I'm writing the books that I write is a bit like someone saying, 'What, you've done a second album? Oh, I see, cashing in on your first album, are you?' But I'm a musician! It's sort of what I do.

I'm very fond of an old map of London that used to belong to my father. I'm a big London fan, and the evolution of the city is astonishing, when you look back to Pepys and how small it was - everyone knew each other.

For me, photography only stopped because I was selling books.