The perfect borscht is what life should be but never is.

It's difficult for me to understand how it was possible to live under the Bush regime for eight years and then just roll over and do other things.

Writing is a mode of agency in the world that is different from mere employment. There has to be some sort of ethical or moral drive, even if you are unaware of it.

There's no bad writing; you did something. I was operating inside language, and I did something. I'm not ashamed of it.

There are moments in life when it is all turned inside out--what is real becomes unreal, what is unreal becomes tangible, and all your levelheaded efforts to keep a tight ontological control are rendered silly and indulgent.

We hated pretentiousness; it was a form of self-hatred.

I started appreciating and valuing different things. Some things just became insufferable to me, and not just literature. I used to like horror movies and now I couldn't stand them.