:21:01
Lot of laughs, that kid.
Sit down and have something to drink.
:21:04
No, thanks. Let's get to work. I got
a few appointments with some builders.
:21:08
Did you have trouble reading the sketches?
:21:09
- No, I read them fine.
- Good.
:21:13
It's pretty different from the house
I saw in the magazine, isn't it?
:21:16
You didn't expect the same house, did you?
:21:18
I don't know what I expected.
:21:20
You're the architect,
you've said so often enough.
:21:24
What's the matter with you all of a sudden?
:21:27
Nothing.
:21:28
No, there's something eating you.
What is it, Rog?
:21:32
I showed your sketches
to some friends of mine.
:21:35
They said I'd have to be nuts
to live in a house like that.
:21:38
Who's going to live in it,
you or your friends?
:21:40
That's not the point.
:21:42
Nobody lives in a vacuum.
:21:43
I don't want people pointing
to this oddball house:
:21:46
"That's where that kooky writer lives."
:21:48
What do you want?
A house like everybody else's?
:21:50
The house in the magazine
wasn't like everyone else's.
:21:52
I designed that house
for a Fresno lawyer with kids.
:21:55
This house is for you.
:21:56
Sure. What if I have to get rid of it?
Suppose my next book flops?
:21:59
And the book after that? What do I do then?
Wait for a 36-year-old writer...
:22:03
with a mustache to come along
so I can unload it?
:22:05
What do you want? A guarantee
that you'll be successful always?
:22:08
What difference does it make?
:22:09
You design a house, up it goes,
you get 10%, good or bad.
:22:12
With a book it's different.
I've got readers, I get reviews.
:22:15
Shall I call your girlfriend back?
:22:16
Maybe you'd like to slap her around
as I'm too busy to play scapegoat.
:22:20
What do you mean?
I'm discussing your house.
:22:22
Your house, Altar.
:22:24
Forget it.
:22:27
All right, I made a mistake.
:22:30
When I met you, I told my wife:
:22:32
"Here's a guy who'll be willing
to try something different."
:22:35
- Boy, was I wrong. You want to play it safe.
- That's not true.
:22:38
What are you afraid of?
That some critic won't like your house?
:22:41
This has nothing to do
with the lousy critics!
:22:47
You know, Rog,
we both start with the same thing:
:22:51
a blank piece of paper.
:22:53
But every time I try to play it safe,
I come up empty.
:22:56
So now I just sit down at that drawing board
and do what I want to do.
:22:59
And I hope what I like,
somebody else will like.