People judge you because of your weight and your food issues. It's very visual.

What's the point of having a book club if you don't get to eat brownies and drink wine?

In the wintertime I like macaroni and cheese.

An ellipsis is a giant ocean of possibilities.

I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers, or brain cleansers.

You can quit smoking, and never have to have a cigarette again to survive. But with food, it is a daily challenge.

I love doing readings. I could really give a crap about reviews. It's kind of about the readers.

I remember being banned from other houses as a younger child during the winter holiday season; I was the only one who didn't believe in Santa Claus, and I was ruining everyone's Christmas.

I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to, even, but it could still feel big.

In 1998, I started a blog, something I could control very easily and update at my own whim.

I'm not that much of a researcher. I'm good at channeling characters, and I'm good at structure.

Maybe it wasn't meant for me to stand on my feet

Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.

But for now, the future, like the past, means nothing.

Opera cuts to the chase—as death does. An art which seeks, more obviously than any other form, to break your heart.

Cries for justice are often the bitter laments of the vengeful.

A Jew without Jews, without Judaism, without Zionism, without Jewishness, without a temple or an army or even a pistol, a Jew clearly without a home, just the object itself, like a glass or an apple.

You [ the American President] can print more money, you just print and pay. I mean, it's a bad option, but you can do it.

I've done some things that I shouldn't have done but I know I'm not a bad person, and I know that I can become a better person... Only thing I can do is work at it.

I'm not a man who constantly thinks up jokes.

When we stand up and we sing O Canada, we pledge to stand on guard for thee. If that doesn't include our water, we might as well sit down and give up.