Our friendship was like our writing in some ways. It was the only thing that was interesting about our otherwise dull lives. We were better off when we were together. Together we were a small society of ambition and high ideals. We were tender and patient and kind. We were not like the world at all.

shame should be reserved for the things we choose to do, not the circumstances that life puts on us

I saw that my best work was my most personal work, which is odd, because my fiction is very far afield and has nothing to do with my life.

Even though I didn't know I was applying for the job, I have somehow become the spokesperson for independent book stores.

People gave me such a bad time about wanting a baby. I didn't want a baby, and I still don't. I wanted a dog.

Using your imagination is the one time in life you can really go anywhere.

I should figure out why I'm so much more interested in doing something that I think is really hard. But, somehow, the thing that is hard for me feels more noble.