Bloomberg weighed three hundred pounds. This itself was historical. I revered his weight. It was an affirmation of humanity's reckless potential; it went beyond legend and returned through mist to the lovely folly of history. To weigh three hundred pounds. What devout vulgarity.

It is possible to be homesick for a place even when you are there.

Doesn't seem quite real. It's not meaningful. I can't quite imagine myself being 73. That's the age my father was! [Laughter.] How can I be his age? It's weird.

I am not comfortable with abstract writing, stories that look like essays: you have to see, I need to see.

Technology and violence are interdependent.

I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.

It's true that some of us become better writers by living long enough. But this is also how we become worse writers. The trick is to die in between.