Andrew Holleran

"You need the reality to spark you, because that's what you're responding to and that's what you're writing about," he said. "But you've got to fictionalize, too — to make the thing take off."

Mr. Holleran added: "Proust claimed that he had no imagination. And I think it's true in a sense. But on the other hand, he also said that he was against the literature of strict notation. He was infusing his reality with something else. I was relieved when I read that, because you always feel guilty as a writer for not imagining more."