All these lives," she said. "All the stories we never know." (125)

He wanted to put his arms around her, but she had a darkness that seemed to stand beside her like an acquaintance that would not go away.

I'm so interested in the fact that we really don't know anybody. We think we know the people close to us, but we don't, we really don't.

Each of his son's had been his favorite child.

The appetites of the body were private battles.

I'm writing for my ideal reader, for somebody who's willing to take the time, who's willing to get lost in a new world, who's willing to do their part. But then I have to do my part and give them a sound and a voice that they believe in enough to keep going.

The fact of the matter is I always have a really high sense of responsibility to the reader, whether it's a few readers that I get or a lot of readers, which I was lucky enough to get with 'Olive.' I feel responsible to them, to deliver something as truthful and straight as I can.