I read poetry every day. I love the boiled down essence of poetry. I look for poetry in prose. In a way that evocative.

I truly believe the art's larger than the artist. Who cares about John Steinbeck? I care about the Joad family.

I'm one of those writers who can't talk about what they're working on. The entire four years I was writing 'House of Sand and Fog,' my wife never saw a word of it. I just have to keep it in the womb, and then everyone can have a crack at it.

I have always known that writing fiction had little effect on the world; that if it did, young men would not have gone to war after The Iliad.

There are some beautiful books out there. But the ones that leave me cold are the ones where I feel—it’s that postmodern thing—it’s more experimentation with language than it is a deep compassionate falling into another human being’s experience.

People fascinate the hell out of me. I never get tired of watching people, listening to people. The best part is not getting up in front of people but meeting people.

I see a lot of marriages crash and burn around me and my wife. I've always been curious about how hard it is to love well and be loved.