Life is short, very short, and what are we doing here if not trying to become more generous and loving?

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.

I love the idea that more people would read short fiction. I think it's such a humanizing form. It softens the boundaries between people.

Now I began to understand art as a kind of black box the reader enters. He enters in one state of mind and exits in another. The writer gets no points just because what's inside the box bears some linear resemblance to "real life" -- he can put whatever he wants in there. What's important is that something undeniable and nontrivial happens to the reader between entry and exit.

What once were two, are one

I think when you get to export your creative impulse into something, it kind of lessens that busy energy that can be so confrontational and pissy.

My idea about collections is that you write as hard as you can for some period and what you're really doing during that time is hyper-focusing on the individual pieces - trying to make each one sit up and really do some surprising work.