I remain a fan of my friend Bret Easton Ellis's 'American Psycho.' I think as a book about New York in the '80s it was pretty excellent.

If it's red, French, costs too much, and tastes like the water that's left in the vase after the flowers have died and rotted, it's probably Burgundy.

I envy those writers who outline their novels, who know where they're going. But I find writing is a process of discovery.

Mine is not an autonomous imagination.

I don't think I've left a trail of weeping women in my wake. I mean, the number of serious relationships I've had has not been into double digits.

We've been hearing about the death of the novel ever since the day after Don Quixote was published.

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