...with a grief no less sharp for not being intimate with its object.

My novels aren't really generated by a single conceptual spark; it's more a process of many different elements that come together unexpectedly over a long period of time.

Sometimes we want what we want even if we know it’s going to kill us.

I love the tradition of Dickens, where even the most minor walk-on characters are twitching and particular and alive.

Storytelling and elegant style don't always go hand in hand.

I hate Gucci,' said Francis. 'Do you?' said Henry, glancing up from his reverie. 'Really? I think it's rather grand.' 'Come on, Henry.' 'Well, it's so expensive, but it's so ugly too, isn't it? I think they make it ugly on purpose. And yet people buy it out of sheer perversity.' 'I don't see what you think is grand about that.' 'Anything is grand if it's done on a large enough scale,' said Henry.

I had the epiphany that laughter was light, and light was laughter, and that this was the secret of the universe.