Why were we put here, so inclined to love, when end of our story = death? That harsh. That cruel. Do not like.

I'm not a natural criticizer - I prefer to like and praise and so on.

I think this is the other big issue that is not going away: Do we really believe that bit in the Constitution or not? I think we do.

One of the revelations in that book [Lincoln in the Bardo] for me was this idea about citizenship. Even that word - citizenship - for someone my age, it makes me cringe. But, to me, the political space we're in now argues for a reboot of fairly simple ideas and the examination of the way that Americans have not been living into them.

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

In fiction, conceptualizing, I've found, produces dull and over-controlled text.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.