My heroes are people like Philip Levine, who is simply like a god to me, as a writer. And he is a very good man, too.

If there is some blood on the pages then you have some readership.

What I try to do is read stuff that won't deal with the dangerous dark things I hope I am writing about.

History is beautiful stories or scary stories, yeah.

If a writer is honest, if what is at stake for him can seem to matter to his readers, then his work may be read. But a writer will work anyway, as I do, and as I have, in part to explore this terra incognita, this dangerous ground I seem to need to risk.

Good art is a form of prayer. It's a way to say what is not sayable.

I always want to read Gore Vidal's nonfiction. Because everything he writes is an essay and it's worth reading.