Not every novel that wants to be a tragedy gets to be one.

The essence of charity ... was not deciding what others needed and giving it to them, but giving them what they wanted.

In many ways, being honest about 'Huckleberry Finn' goes right to the heart of whether we can be honest about our heritage and our identity as Americans.

Progressivism is usually seen as a stepping back from individualism into a progressive community...

The fundamental condition of childhood is powerlessness.

Writing novels is an essentially amateur activity.

When I went to first grade and the other children said that their fathers were farmers, I simply didn't believe them. I agreed in order to be polite, but in my heart I knew that those men were impostors, as farmers and as fathers, too. In my youthful estimation, Laurence Cook defined both categories. To really believe that others even existed in either category was to break the First Commandment.