Do I exaggerate? Boy, do I, and I'd do it more if I could get away with it.

I meet people at book signings. My record now, for signing, is ten and a half hours in one sitting.

Writing helped to have jobs that involved running around, pushing things like dish carts and wheelbarrows. It would be hard to sit at a desk all day, and then come to sit at another desk. Also, it helps to abandon hope. If I sit at my computer, determined to write a New Yorker story I won't get beyond the first sentence. It's better to put no pressure on it. What would happen if I followed the previous sentence with this one, I'll think. If the eighth draft is torture, the first should be fun. At least if you're writing humor.

I tend to show everything I do to my family, to check they won't be offended.

Also, I used to think that one day I might get someone to iron my shirts, but the truth is I really like doing them myself.

Often I'd take out my magnifying glass and stare into the chaos that was her face.

If finding an apartment is like falling in love, buying one is like proposing on your first date and agreeing not to see each other until the wedding.