How will you know a good farmer when you meet him? He will not ask you for any favors.

A love story, at least a convincing one, requires three elements - the lover, the beloved, and the adventures they have together.

A novelist is on the cusp between someone who knows everything and someone who knows nothing.

We sort of read two or three big newspapers but we don't get the flavor of the local events, the local news as much.

Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting.

Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states.

Combined families often get bad reviews, but the family my children got when they traded away 'the suffocating four-person' nuclear one is one that has benefited all of them.