Women truly are better than men. Otherwise, they'd be intolerable.

I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.

There are only two kinds of books -- good books and the others. The good are winnowed from the bad through the democracy of time.

Simplicity is always a virtue.

Critics are like ticks on a dog or tits on a motor: ornamental but dysfunctional.

John Updike: our greatest suburban chic-boutique man of letters. A smug and fatal complacency has stunted his growth beyond hope of surgical repair. Not enough passion in his collected works to generate steam in a beer can. Nevertheless, he is considered by some critics to be America's finest *living* author: Hold a chilled mirror to his lips and you will see, presently, a fine and dewy moisture condensing -- like a faery breath! -- upon the glass.

The canyon country does not always inspire love. To many it appears barren, hostile, repellent - a fearsome mostly waterless land of rock and heat, sand dunes and quicksand, cactus, thornbrush, scorpion, rattlesnake, and agaraphobic distances. To those who see our land in that manner, the best reply is, yes, you are right, it is a dangerous and terrible place. Enter at your own risk. Carry water. Avoid the noonday sun. Try to ignore the vultures. Pray frequently.