So I do think sometimes the political mechanism is completely disconnected from the people. However, what I will say is that history tells us that whenever things start to move too fast, whenever progress makes people feel a little breathless, one of the go-to spots that government, that the ruling powers that society goes to is to try to repress women.

Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement.

We almost manage to forget that things happen that we don't anticipate.

We read in bed because reading is halfway between life and dreaming, our own consciousness in someone else's mind.

There's a certain kind of conversation you have from time to time at parties in New York about a new book. The word "banal" sometimes rears its by-now banal head; you say "underedited," I say "derivative." The conversation goes around and around various literary criticisms, and by the time it moves on one thing is clear: No one read the book; we just read the reviews.

I do get a sense that there's a huge disconnect between the political powers and what's really happening, so right-wing conservatives can talk about contraception all they want, but the women of America are using birth control. It's as simple as that.

There is something so settled and stodgy about turning a great romance into next of kin on an emergency room form, and something so soothing and special, too.