Society was nothing but a long, dull dinner party conversation in which one was forced to speak to one's partner on both the left and the right.

When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads.

I'm very comfortable writing.

If anybody had shown me the paperwork for how my life was going to look in five years, I would have said, "No. That is not where I want to go."

I think, if you want to grow a novelist, for that person to have a lot of boring time trying to entertain themselves is very important.

Thank God Roxane Coss had not fallen in love with one of the Russians. She doubted they could make it up the stairs without stopping for a cigarette and telling at least one loud story that no one could understand.

Society was nothing but a long, dull dinner party conversation in which one was forced to speak to one's partner on both the left and the right.