The idea of the writer who writes nineteen novels, with various ups and downs and levels of experimentation, isn't around so much now. There's a focus, I think, on fewer books, with more pressure on each book to succeed. With that there comes, I think, a certain pressure towards shapeliness in fiction. Towards neatness. And I think writers feel that, and it can effect how they write.

It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven or so years, especially when you've never published anything before.

He already knew he could coach. All you had to do was look at each of your players and ask yourself: What story does this guy wish someone would tell him about himself? And then you told the guy that story.

To my parents, writing seemed precarious and not the best idea.

Baseball is a team game but, at the same time, it's a very lonely game: unlike in soccer or basketball, where players roam around, in baseball everyone has their little plot of the field to tend. When the action comes to you, the spotlight is on you but no one can help you.

The novel has always been the form that incorporates other forms. For me, it has always been the ultimate medium.

The challenge for any fiction writer is that your job involves simply sitting at a desk for a very, very long time.