I do think there's some aspect of being a novelist that is a little crazy making.

There's no greater happiness than doing something every day that you love, that you feel you do in a satisfactory fashion, and which both supports and gives you time to support your family. I felt so lucky to have all that.

[In the aftermath of death] Small talk feels too small, big talk too enormous.

Ethnic stereotypes are misshapen pearls, sometimes with a sandy grain of truth at their center. ... but they ignore complexity, change, and individuality.

I do a lot of mental work before I ever start writing.

My sister is a public school teacher. She makes far far less money than I do, and gets almost no public attention for her work. Yet I believe what she does is infinitely more important and more difficult than what I do.

Figuring out who you are is the whole point of the human experience.