Yoga: From the bestselling author of THE ADVERSARY

Mr and Mrs Térieur had two boys, twins. What did they call them? Alex and Alain. I love that joke. In French Alex Térieur means ‘on the outside’, and Alain Térieur means ‘on the inside’. And with every book I write, there’s always a moment when I think it could be called The Brothers Térieur.

I try to become a better person because it’ll make me a better writer. What comes first? What’s my real goal? On good days, I tell myself that the two are like horses harnessed together – and I remember that that’s the original meaning of the word yoga: the yoke with which we harness two horses or buffaloes.

They lie for twenty-odd years the way Jean-Claude Romand – whose devastating story I spent seven years writing – did, and then they end up massacring their family, wife, children, parents and dog, because now that we’ve come this far into the void, that’s all there’s left to do.

when push comes to shove my favourite sentence is still Captain Haddock’s memorable line, the one I thought about a while ago, and which I think about quite often in fact: ‘It’s both very simple and very complicated.’

I’ll say more about the Bardo, and in that context about a fantastic short story

suddenly interrupted by Paul’s stunned, almost shocked voice: ‘Emmanuel, what are you doing? How are you typing?’ I look up, not really following. ‘Tell me it’s not true: are you typing with one finger?’ ‘Yes, I’m typing with one finger. I’ve always typed with one finger.’ ‘Now wait a minute,’ Paul goes on with growing amazement, as if he was gradu

When asked ‘Why is man on earth?’ Pythagoras answered: ‘To observe the heavens.’

The writer André Malraux relates a discussion he had with an old priest: ‘You’ve spent fifty years listening to people in the secrecy of the confessional, what have you learned about the human soul?’ The priest: ‘Two things. First of all, people are much more unhappy than one thinks. And second, there is no such thing as grown-ups.’ There are no gr

still remember it – vividly if confusedly – as being inspired by the Bardo in a way that’s as powerful as Philip K. Dick’s Ubik.