I've wasted the last five years of my life dealing in religious articles. People today find spiritual solace in ballroom dancing.

What sort of attractions do you think lured our coreligionists out of the ghetto and into the mainstream of European culture? Was it the wit of Molière, or the ingenious stage mechanisms of Pixérécourt? Or was it simply the opportunity to cast an eye, without shame, upon the living, unclad human form?

Goat curry and a female librarian, that's what I'm in the mood for.

Really interesting novels, they always are so demanding of you on some level that you don't fall asleep.

I live in an apartment building built in 1925, and it hasn't been heavily renovated, so I feel very much connected to that time and what went on in that place.

You can have your own watch and always doubt it. If I had a watch I'd probably always be doubting it or the batteries would be dying. I just know that people always have trouble with their watches, and that's why I like public clocks.

I think architectural appreciation would be a minor occupation after a nuclear war. People would just be happy to have something to eat.