Sanctimony and self-regard are as American as smallpox blankets and supersize meals.

I didn't have to do that much research to present a post-apocalyptic New York because I basically grew up in that New York. That old New York is gone, and that's one thing that's undiscoverable now but I explore in my fiction.

The fallout from slavery is ongoing. I am not sure the issue of race in America will ever be completely solved.

I think each book has its own way of accommodating my concerns, whether it's about race, America, technology, the city.

What isn't said is as important as what is said.

The Declaration of Independence is that sacred American text so full of meaning and purpose and yet quite empty if you examine it and pull it apart because the words "All Men" exclude a vast number of citizens.

I think being a writer was a crappy job when you just had typewriters. It was crappy when we just had ink and paper. And it's sort of crappy now. It's always just you and the page. That doesn't change.