I don't see much point in doing things for a pure joke. Every now and then you need a joke, but not so much as the people who spend all their lives constructing joke palaces think you do.

I don't only write about English literature; I also write about chaos theory and... ants. I can understand ants.

It is good for a man to invite his ghosts into his warm interior, out of the wild night, into the firelight, out of the howling dark.

Novels arise out of the shortcomings of History.

I'd like to write the way Matisse paints.

One of the reasons I've gotten so attached to talking to scientists is that... they know there is a reality.

Young girls are sad. They like to be; it makes them feel strong.