Nonprofit status is what created the Bible Belt. The tax code brought religion back to this country.

Who gives a damn about being remembered? That's really for amateurs.

Only a country that is based upon an extremely primitive religion, which is Christianity, I am a devoted enemy of monotheism in all of its forms, could have come with a categorizing of people as one thing or the other.

Writers who teach tend to prefer literary theory to literature and tenure to all else. Writers who do not teach prefer the contemplation of Careers to art of any kind.

[Norman Mailer] is against masturbation, he's against homosexuality. He believes that murder is essentially sexual. I think he's rather an anthology of all the darkest American traits.

We've had parallel lives. And frankly, I prefer mine to his. I would not like to be George Bush.

We have a great deal to learn from Scandinavia and a great deal to be alarmed at from the Mediterranean.