Reading fiction not only develops our imagination and creativity, it gives us the skills to be alone. It gives us the ability to feel empathy for people we've never met, living lives we couldn't possibly experience for ourselves, because the book puts us inside the character's skin.

We are taught to be suspicious, especially of anyone who might not look like us or share our beliefs.

She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.

Home, bed, sleep, mother--who knew more beautiful words than these?

Hope is a horrible thing, you know. I don't know who decided to package hope as a virtue because it's not. It's a plague. Hope is like walking around with a fishhook in your mouth and somebody just keeps pulling it and pulling it.

Updike and Bellow and Roth were my three favorite writers when I was young and throughout my life.

I think of Nashville as a very natural place. We're easy going, we are ourselves. There isn't a lot of preening or trying to impress. So it's an easy place to just be and that is a good state from which to write.