I was very driven, very focused, very ambitious. I mean, when I look back on myself in my 20s, part of me just cringes.

The gender gap looks at this point like it's going to favor the president, particularly among white suburban women. I certainly think it's going to be an issue. But I think the single most important thing in this election will be turnout.

People have writer's block not because they can't write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.

We take our vitamins, we go to exercise class, we put on our seat belts. And then something blindsides us and gives the lie to our carefully constructed facade of safety.

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

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.

If God had meant Harvard professors to appear in People magazine, She wouldn't have invented The New York Review of Books.