She quoted a dead playwright and called me a bullet with nothing but a future. She understood my lack of self-pity. She knew why I despised everything that might restrict my forward momentum. She knew that bullets have no conscience. They speed past things and miss their marks as often as they hit them.

I don't think I will write anything that could be even remotely considered a genre novel from this point on. I think I've graduated.

I wanted to portray a newly democratized, enclosed society. I wanted to show how extraordinarily fluid people are in their embrace of other human beings.

Joe Wambaugh's a friend. I know him only casually, but I like him a lot. I think he likes my books.

[Raymond] Chandler, I reread him, and there's a lot of bad writing there. I don't think he knew much about people.

Noir is dead for me because historically, I think it's a simple view. I've taken it as far as it can go. I think I've expanded on it a great deal, taken it further than any other American novelist.

To me, there's nothing on earth other than women. It's why I get out of bed every morning.