Irony is just honesty with the volume cranked up.

That underscored this idea that when we're reading a book or writing a book, you're in an act of co-creation. The reader and the writer are both trying to dress up and present their best selves and then there's that moment, when suddenly, as a reader, you're not exactly you anymore, and likewise, as a writer, you're not really you.

It was that impossible thing: happiness that does not wilt to reveal the thin shoots of some new desire rising from within it.

I think the wave of social media rejection is coming. I think there will be a big reaction against it. It's just like sugar- - mean, I loved it as a kid.

The internet kind of feels like happiness sometimes, however. It feels like stimulation.

I actually believe that a lot of what people call originality has to do with persistence in the craft.

I'm not a big fan of my books going on cross-country road trips. They get arrogant and, next thing, start aspiring to become 'large-print' books. I say, let them stay home and be regular small-print books.