each of us only feels the torn lining of his own coat and sees the wholeness of the other person's.

As a reader, I want a book to kidnap me into its world. Its world must make my so-called real world seem flimsy. Its world must lure me to return. When I close the book, I should feel bereft.

I think professionalism is important, and professionalism means you get paid.

Each one an antidote to the one that went before. Each one a reaction, an about-face, a rebound.

I am old enough to know that laughter, not anger, is the true revelation.

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

The problem with feminism in the second wave was that we fought so much among ourselves, and I think we did so much damage to the movement... and I think the next wave, the third wave, is women mentoring younger women and women helping younger women to enter the political process and the writing world.