One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.

Whether you like it or not, Paris is the beating heart of Western civilisation. It's where it all began and ended.

I'm basically an Upper West Side Jewish writer.

I write what I call 'novels of consolation' for people who are bright and sophisticated.

I don't inflict horrors on readers.

Once you have your characters, they tell you what to write, you don't tell them.

You can't make accommodations in crucial situations and be heroic.