To lose yourself in a book is the desire of the bookworm. I mean to be taken. That is my desire.

When I fly, I'm never afraid the plane is going to crash. But there have often been times when I was afraid it wouldn't crash. I was just afraid it was going to circle O'Hare for the rest of my life.

Even if people aren't Republicans, it doesn't seem shocking to them that Ronald Reagan was the president. Well of course, because Arnold Schwarzenegger was the governor! This is not only a bar too low, this is no bar at all. I don't care who you are, you know 20 people smarter than Ronald Reagan. You know 20 people who would be a better president than Ronald Reagan.

Why not have your first baby at sixty, when your husband is already dead and your career is over? Then you can really devote yourself to it.

I prefer dead writers because you don't run into them at parties.

When Toni Morrison said 'write the book you want to read,' she didn't mean everybody.

Anti-smoking sentiment has replaced middle-class morality entirely. The smoker has taken the place of the homosexual. Today you hear people say things about smokers that used to be said about homosexuals - they pollute the environment; you don't want them around your children.