So much of reading and writing to me is about being elsewhere, no matter how much I love where I am.

Richard Shindell works impressive alchemy with the plainest, most primal American pop melodies.

Every time I fall in love with a book, I just feel grateful and thrilled to have it in my life.

Love the work: the grind, the dreaming, the distracted not-sleep, all of it.

So much of reading and writing to me is about being elsewhere, no matter how much I love where I am.

Love the work: the grind, the dreaming, the distracted not-sleep, all of it. It’s the one thing in the job that will always be there, and the real pleasure in the profession. Everything else is luck.