To see someone you love, in a bad setting, is one of the great barometers of gratitude.

It is so often surprising, who rescues you at your lowest moments.

I like birthday cake. It's so symbolic. It's a tempting symbol to load with something more complicated than just 'Happy birthday!' because it's this emblem of childhood and a happy day.

I didn’t mind the quiet stretches. It was like we were trying out the idea of being side by side.

I'm obsessed with adolescence. I love to write about people in their 20s. It's such a fraught and exciting and kind of horrible time.

My eyelids are my own private cave, he murmured. That I can go to anytime I want.

I was with them for all of it, but more like an echo than a participant.