She's always thought that one of the beauties of New York is that you can be from anywhere and within moments of landing its yours.

Literature can remind us that not all life is already written down: there are still so many stories to be told.

Memory has a heavy backspin, yet it’s still impossible to land exactly where we took off.

Even if you're going to die, you might as well die pretty.

We have to listen to other people's stories. That's the thing. And that's the only way that we eventually get to know ourselves.

About 25 years ago, I took a bicycle across the United States. I soon found out that the greatest item of clothing was the trusty bandanna. There were dozens of uses for a bandanna - as a pot holder, a chain cleaner, a sun shield, a headband, a snot rag, a declaration of Kerouacian intent.

She likes the people with the endurance to tolerate the drudge, the ones who know that pain is a requirement, not a curse.