The radio station was playing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, a sure sign that things were much worse than they appeared.

The greatest books in Russian literature are satires. Gogol's Dead Souls, for example, is a very over-the-top satire about life in Russia. I think it's the thing we do best.

I am born hungry. Ravenous. I want to eat the world, and I can never be satiated.

My first book really did change my life. It allowed me to fully express myself. There was a sense that I was worth something as an artist.

That's what I always liked about science fiction - you can make the world end. Humour is my multiple warhead delivery system.

Reading is difficult. People just aren't meant to read anymore. We're in a post-literate age. You know, a visual age. How many years after the fall of Rome did it take for a Dante to appear? Many, many years.

Michigan, with its delicious American name. How lucky one must be to live there.