There was a price to be paid for being interested in fiction and in writing, pushing my family away. Books and authors became my family.

A person does feel sheepish picking on journalists, a class already so richly despised that if a planeload of them crashed in flames, most people would smile from pure reflex.

Spending time in a church does not make you religious, any more than spending time in a garage makes you a car.

It's important for survival that children have their own experiences, the kind they learn from. The kind their parents arrange for are not as useful. Good parents are the hardest to get rid of.

Sometimes you have to avoid mentioning things because people's feelings are tender.

Bad things don't happen to writers; it's all material.

Years ago, manhood was an opportunity for achievement, and now it is a problem to be overcome.