I do not think writers or anybody would sit down and think they must write about some cause, or theme, or something. If they write about their own experiences, something true is going to emerge.

...or like an old friend one has known too well and doesn't want to see.

You remember with what you are at the time you are remembering.

There are no laws for the novel. There never have been, nor can there ever be.

I don't think San Francisco needs defending. I never meet anyone who doesn't love the place, Americans or others.

Advice to young writers? Always the same advice: learn to trust our own judgment.

Novels give you the matrix of emotions, give you the flavour of a time in a way formal history cannot.