People who are knowledgeable about poetry sometimes discuss it in that knowing, rather hateful way in which oenophiles talk about wine: robust, delicate, muscular. This has nothing to do with how most of us experience it, the heart coming around the corner and unexpectedly running into the mind. Of all the words that have stuck to the ribs of my soul, poetry has been the most filling.

I did not read from a sense of superiority, or advancement, or even learning. I read because I loved it more than any other activity on earth.

You want to have fun with your kids, and no one has fun with someone who runs roughshod.

an the president bring out the voters who were so enthusiastic about him in 2008 and seem a little disenchanted now? Can he bring out young people? Can he bring out Latinos? Can he bring out those white suburban moms?

I am an affirmative action hire.

Here is one of the worst things about having someone you love die: It happens again every single morning.

Testosterone does not have to be toxic.