The only way to write a book, I’m fond of telling people, is to actually write a book. That’s how you write a book.

I’m really lucky with the people around me. They know me, so they don’t confuse the issues really. They know what a book is and they know who I am and they know the difference between the two.

Only bad writers think that their work is really good.

I work at the sentences. Many of the things people find distinctive about my writing, I think of as natural.

Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn't matter how "real" your story is, or how "made up": what matters is its necessity.

When you find yourself alone, or in a transition, you dream more. These are also the times when you read books.

I do wish I could write like some of the American women, who can be clever and heartfelt and hopeful; people like Lorrie Moore and Jennifer Egan. But Ireland messed me up too much, I think, so I can't.