Literature is not a sack race. There aren't real winners and losers in the Republic of Letters.

Say what you want about it, Hell is story-friendly... The mechanisms of hell are nicely attuned to the mechanisms of narrative. Not so the pleasures of Paradise. Paradise is not a story. It's about what happens when the stories are over.

Savor the imminent weirdness of the day.

Because it is the Midwest, no one really glitters because no one has to, it's more of a dull shine, like frequently used silverware.

You are a real find and you keep me satisfied, up to a point. After all, I'm a malcontent and you can't change that.

I prefer short stories, but publishers would, of course, rather that writers produce novels, since novels are still more commercially viable.

There's nothing to talk about to strangers anymore, if you know what I mean. Everything I want to say, I say to her.