We're tortured, a lot of us, believe me.

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.

Being a reporter is as much a diagnosis as a job description.

The New Testament has had a really powerful effect on how I write and how I live my life.

In the same way the Brits had to get used to the idea that the sun had set on the British Empire, I think that there's the subrosa feeling that we are at the end of the American century, and I think that's very, very hard for Americans to take.

I think there are some stories that need to be told by a specific person as opposed to in the third person.

My most pronounced writing habit is trying not to write.