I think that it's a natural thing for parents to look for reflections of themselves in their children and feel a certain pride there. So if your child is very, very different, or perhaps if he's very, very similar, it makes you uncomfortable.

I never start with a political point of view. I believe that your politics are emotionally and psychologically determined by your early experiences.

Show a little faith there is magic in the night. You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright, and that's alright with me.

I don't like to write rhetorically or get on a soapbox. I try to make the stuff multi-layered, so that it always has a life outside its social context. I don't believe that you can tell people anything; you can only draw them in.

An audience is not brought to you or given to you; it's something that you fight for.

I tend to be not my own best company. I can get a little lost when - if I don't have my work to occasionally focus me.

Deindustrialization that I have written about for 40 years left a good part of the American public behind.