Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through the middle.

I stopped going to mass, and boy, it was painful for me, and it was certainly painful for my family, but I just couldn't ratify their behavior and their decisions anymore by showing up on Sundays.

It's important to remember that feminism is no longer a group of organizations or leaders. It's the expectations that parents have for their daughters, and their sons, too. It's the way we talk about and treat one another. It's who makes the money and who makes the compromises and who makes dinner. It's a state of mind. It's the way we live now.

When I write a novel, I have what I think of as an icon that helps get me into the world of the book.

All of life like a series of tableaux, and in the living we missed so much, hid so much, left so much undone and unsaid.

I am an affirmative action hire.

The truth about your own life is not always easy to accept, and sometimes hasn't even occurred to you.