Books go out into the world, travel mysteriously from hand to hand, and somehow find their way to the people who need them at the times when they need them ... Cosmic forces guide such passings-along.

The words carry their own momentum. A confession in motion tends to stay in motion. Newton's first law of jealousy.

From Roman times to the present, Italy has been a country to fall in love with - a tribute to all that is enduring, crazy, pagan, joyous, melancholy, at once banal and divine, in the human spirit.

Plot is just a fancy way of saying 'and then.

Friends love misery... our misery is what endears us to our friends.

I don't necessarily read everything. I read what I need to read to inspire the book I'm trying to finish.

Is a currency worth anything if no one wants it? We used to buy shoes in Italy. Remember?