And every place and time an author writes about is imaginary, from Oz to Raymond Chandler's L.A. to Dickens's London.

One of the nastier trends in library management in recent years is the notion that libraries should be 'responsive to their patrons'.

Writers are too neurotic to ever be happy.

Cats, as you know, are quite impervious to threats.

It is my belief that everything you need to know about the world can be learned in a church choir.

That's what the movies do. They don't entertain us, they don't send the message: 'We care.' They give us lines to say, they assign us parts: John Wayne, Theda Bara, Shirley Temple, take your pick.

And every place and time an author writes about is imaginary, from Oz to Raymond Chandler's L.A. to Dickens's London.