All fiction comes from a little bit of reality, otherwise it would have no relevance. The fun is in innovation, take something real like this fair, and make it something larger than life.

...opening up a newspaper is the key to looking classy and smart. Never mind the bronze-plated stuff about the role of the press in a democracy - a newspaper, kiddo, is about Style.

Being Lutheran, Mother believed that self-pity is a deadly sin and so is nostalgia, and she had no time for either

It's confidence; it has to be something good about getting old. One of the things is that you just don't stress about some stuff that made you so worried.

I don't associate work with feelings of satisfaction. Rather, guilt, frustration, and resentment of people who write better than I do.

I think the most un-American thing you can say is, 'You can't say that.'

Pumpkin pie is a living symbol of mediocrity. The best pumpkin pie you ever ate wasn't all that much different from the worst pumpkin pie you ever ate.