The truth is, every son raised by a single mom is pretty much born married. I don't know, but until your mom dies it seems like all the other women in your life can never be more than just your mistress.

If you ask me, most people have children just as their own enthusiasm about life begins to wane.

Those who can forget the past are way ahead of the rest of us.

With the novels, I usually start from something in my own life that I can't resolve, so I turn it into a metaphor and for months or sometimes years I'll exhaust all of my emotional reaction to this issue by making it enormous on the page.

Only in death will we have our own names since only in death are we no longer part of the effort. In death we become heroes.

your handwriting. the way you walk. which china pattern you choose. it's all giving you away. everything you do shows your hand. everything is a self portrait. everything is a diary.

I want to find something else, unknowable, some place that's not on the map. A real adventure.