When I was on tour people would say, I’m so sorry about your mother, as if the work was transparently autobiographical. But my mother is in the pink, and grateful for many things, except for the fact that she has a writer for a son. You’re correct that writing about sons and mothers is deeply demanding and complex, and in my experience it does make you feel kind of uncomfortable. But if you find you need to write about subjects like this, you have no choice but to commit entirely. You can’t get part way in and then try to be dainty, you know?