I forget a book as soon as I finish writing it, which is not always a good thing

I'll write maybe one long paragraph describing the events, then a page or two breaking the events into chapters, and then reams of pages delving into my characters. After that, I'm ready to begin

I mean you're given all these lessons for the unimportant things--piano-playing, typing. You're given years and years of lessons in how to balance equations, which Lord knows you will never have to do in normal life. But how about parenthood? Or marriage, either, come to think of it. Before you can drive a car you need a state-approved course of instruction, but driving a car is nothing, nothing, compared to living day in and day out with a husband and raising up a new human being.

The Amateur Marriage grew out of the reflection that of all the opportunities to show differences in character, surely an unhappy marriage must be the richest.

He was wondering if there was some cryptic, cultish mark on his door that told all the crazy people he'd have trouble saying no.

When I read, I'm purely a reader

I don't type [when I write] because . . . I often have the feeling that everything flows directly from my right hand.