You become a serious novelist by living long enough.

I like the construction of sentences and the juxtaposition of words-not just how they sound or what they mean, but even what they look like.

I think more than writers, the major influences on me have been European movies, jazz, and Abstract Expressionism.

We seem to believe it is possible to ward off death by following rules of good grooming.

As technology advances in complexity and scope, fear becomes more primitive.

No sense of the irony of human experience, that we are the highest form of life on earth, and yet ineffably sad because we know what no other animal knows, that we must die.

I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.

I don’t want your candor. I want your soul in a silver thimble.

What we are reluctant to touch often seems the very fabric of our salvation.

California deserves whatever it gets. Californians invented the concept of life-style. This alone warrants their doom.

A writer takes earnest measures to secure his solitude and then finds endless ways to squander it.

His eyes spark with revolutions, enlightened trickery and unconditional affection.

If you strive to be perfect in everything, whether it's possible or not, you will always live a more fulfilled life.

Everyone's a racist. It's the one thing that makes us all the same.

If I'm reading a book and it seems truly interesting, I tend to start reading back to front in order not to be too deeply under the sway of progress.

It is not strength, but art, obtains the prize, And to be swift is less than to be wise.

I like not to know, unless it's something that I need to know, specifically, for how I color a performance.

It is one thing to believe in God; it is quite another to believe God.

What works for me is that I read widely and stay focused on my writing. I'm no longer concerned about what happens in the literary marketplace. It is distracting and can lead to discontent.

I'm a great fan of taking my laptop out and about.

Investment ideas, like women are often more exciting than punctual.