Of course the success of A Boy's Own Story took me utterly off guard.

At certain crucial moments - an emergency or an opportunity - one must act first and think later.

The most important things in our intimate lives can't be discussed with strangers, except in books.

Sharona Muir has written a gripping personal memoir about her odyssey to rediscover and reclaim her father. Along the way she uncovers some hard truths about the heroic founders of Israel and the Beginnings of Israeli science. The Book of Telling keeps in all the fears and resentments and consolations and warmth of such a process-at once her own story and the tale of a nation.

Tennessee Williams recognized that great theater begins with great talkers, and that great talkers obey two rules: they never sound like anyone else and they never say anything directly.

Paris... is a world meant for the walker alone, for only the pace of strolling can take in all the rich (if muted) detail.

If I take a less defensive tone, I'd admit that I couldn't write today a very jazzy, contemporary look at America as I did in 1979 in States of Desire.