The epic implications of being human end in more than this: We start our lives as if they were momentous stories, with a beginning, a middle and an appropriate end, only to find that they are mostly middles.

The epic implications of being human end in more than this: We start our lives as if they were momentous stories, with a beginning, a middle and an appropriate end, only to find that they are mostly middles.

If a book is really good, it deserves to be read again, and if it's great, it should be read at least three times.

Ruefulness is one of the classical tones of American fiction. It fosters a native, deglamorized form of anxiety.

The contents of someone's bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral portrait.

Either a writer doesn't want to talk about his work, or he talks about it more than you want.

To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The greater the disturbance, the greater the possibility of misunderstanding.