I've got death inside me. It's just a question of whether or not I can outlive it.

A mystery novel localizes the awesome force of the real death outside the book, winds it tightly in a plot.

He said, "The word for moonlight is moonlight.

He'd once told me that the art of getting ahead in New York was based on learning how to express dissatisfaction in an interesting way. The air was full of rage and complaint. People had no tolerance for your particular hardship unless you knew how to entertain them with it.

There are no amateurs in the world of children.

The genius of the primitive mind is that it can render human helplessness in noble and beautiful ways.

You have to break through the structure of your own stonework habit just to make yourself listen.