What I don't like about America is not necessarily an American thing; it's a capitalist thing. This is the Vatican of capitalism.

Europe is a rapidly changing place, on every level. Immigration, post-communist transitions, the unification, steady presence of war and conflict, the inescapable challenges to the notion of national literature/culture-it all exerts pressure upon writers who must be aware of the transformational possibilities of the situation.

I much preferred winning to thinking and I didn't like losing at all.

People will always tell stories. The publishing industry might vanish, but not stories.

I am just like everybody else...because there is nobody like me in the whole world.

You don't want your neurosurgeon to have doubts about the meaning of it all while he or she is operating on your brain.

I'm not nervous if I think about something for nine years and then I don't write it. Even if it fades it doesn't concern me. It'll come back if it's worth it.