In the Soviet Union, capitalism triumphed over communism. In this country, capitalism triumphed over democracy.

To me the outdoors is what you must pass through in order to get from your apartment into a taxicab.

In New York we have zillions of different kinds of people, many of them hate each other, but violence based on that hatred is really uncommon here.

What I can't be is monogamous. That tends to upset people. I just don't like domestic life.

When people say, 'Doesn't Gloria [Vanderbilt] look great? She's 85.' I say, 'Yes, she was a raving beauty when she was 20,' that's the key. Very helpful.

In conversation you can use timing, a look, an inflection. But on the page all you have is commas, dashes, the amount of syllables in a word. When I write, I read everything out loud to get the right rhythm.

When I'm supposed to be writing I clean my apartment, take my clothes to the laundry, get organized, make lists, do the dishes. I would never do a dish unless I had to write.