Andrew Vachss

Victimizers of children are the enemies of any so-called society.

Building a mechanical device for its appearance is like putting lace on a bowling ball.

A kid in an abusive home has far fewer rights than any POW. There is no Geneva Convention for kids.

My life is triage.

I’m in pursuit of what cannot be achieved: perfection.

The idea that you’re not a writer until you’re published is a lie.

I don’t understand people whose gratification is a BMW. You don’t know what joy is until you see a kid who was tortured get adopted by a family.

I think people should be consumers of journalism.

No politician is threatened by the child protective constituency, because it does not exist.

I don’t sign contracts for my books.

The third person narrator, instead of being omniscient, is like a constantly running surveillance tape.

I don’t take advances for my books.

Journalism is what maintains democracy. It’s the force for progressive social change.

I believe my publisher has shown a great deal of faith in me over a lot of years but I’m not prepared to be so arrogant to say that the long-term literary value of my work would compensate them for a financial failure.

People are pushing against the fabric of society all the time.

Journalism is the protection between people and any sort of totalitarian rule. That’s why my hero, admittedly a flawed one, is a journalist.

We don’t protect our young, and we tolerate predators of our own species.