I think every work of art is an act of faith, or we wouldn't bother to do it. It is a message in a bottle, a shout in the dark. It's saying, 'I'm here and I believe that you are somewhere and that you will answer if necessary across time, not necessarily in my lifetime.'

When pieces of work speak to us in a way that feels as if they were made just for us, those become our private worlds that we return to.

To avoid discovery I stay on the run. To discover things for myself, I stay on the run.

Trust me, I'm telling you stories. ... I can change the story. I am the story.

Each book is a different staging post on the writer's journey, and each book stands by itself, regardless of the writer's relationship to it.

A homosexual is further away from a woman than a rhinoceros.

Today, the sun is everywhere, and everything solid is nothing but its own shadow, I know that the real things in life, the things I remember, the things I turn over in my hands, are not houses, bank accounts, prizes or promotions. What I remember is love -- all love -- love of this dirt road, this sunrise, a day by the river, the stranger I met in a café. Myself, even, which is the hardest thing of all to love, because love and selfishness are not the same thing. It is easy to be selfish. It is hard to love who I am. No wonder I am surprised if you do.