Racism is always there underneath, but usually it is exploited in these times of economic crisis, and it's hard to find out when one slides into another.

Books are the ultimate way for writers to reach immortality.

I don't mind solitude. I love talking to other people, but I do need my space.

Whatever is not commonly seen is condemned as alien.

Your first duty as a writer is to write to please yourself. And you have no duty towards anyone else.

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.

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