I'm the fortieth ugliest man in this bar. But so what! So what!... Isn't this how people used to fall in love?

I don't have many possessions, apart from my books.

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.

Communications devices were always used to effect change, to effect revolution. Telephone, telegraph - these all seemed like very big enhancements at the time.

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.

I love librarians more than any other people in the world. When I was an immigrant kid, they’ve made me feel like a human being and they gave me books that taught me English.

I feel safe with him because he is so not my ideal and I feel like I can be myself because I'm not in love with him.