Reading a novel is just a much more involving and intimate experience than the act of watching a film. I mean, you literally get inside of a novelist's head, and you invest many hours to do so.

You described the feeling you’d always had of being misplaced, of always standing to one side of yourself, of watching yourself in the world even as you were being in the world, and wondering if this was how everyone felt. That you always believed that other people had a clearer idea of what they were doing, and didn’t worry quite so much about why.

I'd like to have the kind of house someday where a carousel horse wouldn't be out of place in the living room.

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

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

Anybody who becomes a movie star becomes successful at projecting a certain image to the public.

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