ira member being blown away by saul bellow's third book, "the adventures of augie march." like "henderson the rain king" is welcome, but that one is so freewheeling and energetic it meant a lot to me. charlie: who is your editor? e.l.: kate madea at random house. charlie: what did she do for you? e.l.: she's there to read what i've written and tell me what she thinks. it very important. -- it is very important. charlie: an element of trust is crucial. e.l.: she's incredibly honest. the fact that she liked this book as much as she did is enormously gratifying to me. i was almost happy. charlie: you mean it's hard to make you happy? why is it hard to make you happy? you are at the top rank of american letters. e.l.: that's why. charlie: do you worry you can keep it up? e.l.: i don't know. it's something in the dna. i just generally -- i did discover fairly early that it's important for your anxieties to remain undaunted i what happens. i used to be an editor and i would go to lunch and say how's the book going? he would say this is the greatest thing i've ever written. it's