If we grew up with nothing, we're complicated with that. That's the thing I keep hearing from people.

From spiritual connection springs kindness, connection, social activism, and love.

This may be a little bit of a provocative thing to say, but the memoirist doesn't owe the reader anything other than a good story and the inclining of the mind in the direction of memory. Of course, the memoirist is not allowed to make things up. But the really skilled memoirist knows what to leave in and what to leave out to serve the story. In autobiography you can't do that.

Everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write

I think so much about how we read, about the nature of solitude, and of community, is changing in ways that none of us yet understand.

Everything changes. The more I try to hold on to the moment, the more it slips through my fingers.

Moving to the country has been incredibly good for my work, for my sense of perspective.