A creative writing program is only as good as its teachers, and I was fortunate in having two great writers as mentors.

The most interesting things that happen in my books are usually the things that arise spontaneously, the things that surprise me.

Most of the people I write about have been ambitious outlanders who have been attracted to New York from other parts of the world.

Something changed. Somewhere along the line you stopped accelerating.

I think it's dangerous to think you know what you're writing. I usually don't know, and usually I just discover it in the course of writing. I envy those writers who can outline a beginning, a middle, and end. Fitzgerald supposedly did it. John Irving does. Bret Easton Ellis does. But for me, the writing itself is the process of discovery. I can't see all that far ahead.

The only thing worse for smoking than drinking is quitting drinking. Because then it's the only thing you can do.

Delia's arms were inscribed with a grid of self- inflicted wounds, an intricate text of self-loathing