To write a book is to make a Faustian contract in reverse . . .

"To write a book is to make a Faustian contract in reverse. To gain immortality, or at least posterity, you lose, or at least ruin, your actual daily life."

. . . Note that Salman Rushdie had on his desk while writing The Satanic Verses . . . Joseph Anton: A Memoir . . . (?) . . .