I remember how surprised I was when my first novel was about to be published and I was informed that I could be sued for anything any one of my characters said. 'But I often don't agree with what they say,' I protested. The lawyer was not interested in the clear distinction I make between my own voice and the voices of my characters. Neither, I have found, are many of my readers.

The kinds of good friends I have are people who are perfectly willing to have me say I'll see them in six months, and live right next door.

Morality for the novelist is expressed not so much in the choice of subject matter as in the plot of the narrative, which is perhaps why in our morally bewildered time novelists have often been timid about plot.

I didn't want to be a boy, ever, but I was outraged that his height and intelligence were graces for him and gaucheries for me.

Conventions, like clichés, have a way of surviving their own usefulness.

Coming out, all the way out, is offered more and more as the political solution to our oppression.

Love is the terrible secret people are suspected of unless they're married, then one always suspects they don't.