Lovers, children, heroes, none of them do we fantasize as extravagantly as we fantasize our parents.

I think it's one of the reasons I wrote my book later in life. My parents didn't have these extreme alternations of conduct. They were very sweet to me.

All our parents have levels of deviousness. We're driven to write about this discrepancy between the bright shining selves they invented and the monsters lurking underneath.

one forgives parents as naturally as one emancipates oneself from them - usually shortly afterward.

I think we're much more eager to know about our parents than we were in the seventies.

The act of nutrition is not a purely physiological event... The family meal is a formality that cultivates in us... a capacity for sharing, generosity, thoughtfulness, a talent for civilized conversation.

Only friends will tell you the truths you need to hear to make your life bearable.