Books are the ultimate way for writers to reach immortality.

For some reason, I seem to be bothered whenever I see acts of injustice and assaults on people's civil liberties. I imagine what I write in the future will follow in that vein. Whether it's fiction or non-fiction.

There isn't much discussion of ruling class in America even in Boston, probably one of the most class-conscious cities in the country?

It is very difficult to hang onto the relics of history.

The spoken word vanished with the wind. Likewise, the unrecorded life disappears as if it never existed.

It's much more difficult to work on a broad subject than on a specific one, because even if it's hard to find the information, if you look hard enough for something specific you will find it, and you will discover things that you wouldn't have thought of before.

After working as a journalist I went to a writing program at Johns Hopkins. It was interesting because it was neither journalistic nor historical, but it emphasized writing style, and afterwards I was asked to write my first book.