By way of introduction

«I turn sentences around. That´s my life. I write a sentence and then I turn it around. Then I look at it and I turn it around again. Then I have lunch. Then I come back and write another sentence. Then I have tea and turn the sentence around. Then I read the two sentences over and turn them both around. Then I lie down on my sofa and think. Then I get up and throw them out and start from the beginning. And if I knock off from this routine for as long as a day, I´m frantic with boredom and a sense of waste... And I ask myself, Why is there no way but this for me to fill my hours?».

  [from The ghost writer by Philip Roth]