I try to keep my artistic opinions not so much "to myself" but "on myself."

I see that being looked at askance as a form of elitism now, which is really scary.

The book says [Lincoln in the Bardo],"I really need this sci-fi device of a ghost inhabiting another person." You say okay kind of begrudgingly. So the structure seemed informed by need and efficiency.

The word 'funny' is a bit like the word 'love' - we don't have enough words to describe the many varieties.

Nostalgia is, 'Hey, remember the other mall that used to be there?'

I watched a documentary about the immigrant crisis around the world. And it does make me blush at all the times I've stood up on the stage and given your speech about the healing power of fiction.

From the beginning [of the Lincoln in the Bardo], I actually had it in mind not to write a novel. I'd kind of gotten past that point where I felt bad for never having written a novel, even to where I felt really good about it, like I was a real purist.