Had they known at these moments to be quietly joyful? Most likely not. People mostly did not know enough when they were living life that they were living it.

And it was too late. No one wants to believe something is too late, but it is always becoming too late, and then it is.

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.

Or maybe, he thought, returning to the boxes, it was part of being Catholic--you were made to feel guilty about everything

In a way, I'm very interested in writing about Maine, because I think Maine represents its own kind of history. It's the oldest state, and it's the whitest state.

You surely know that in the course of a long marriage it is not unusual for a husband or a wife to develop a crush on someone else.

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