They thought depression was like bieng 'depressed'. They thought it was like being in a bad mood, only worse. Therefore, they tried to get him to snap out of it.

One of the reasons that art is important to me is sometimes it actually feels more coherent than life. It orders the chaos.

Capitalism has resulted in material well-being but spiritual bankruptcy.

To start with, look at all the books.

That’s how people live, by telling stories. What’s the first thing a kid says when he learns how to talk? “Tell me a story.” That’s how we understand who we are, where we come from. Stories are everything.

I'm hopefully making the reader feel a lot about the characters and then about their own life.

It was possible to feel superior to other people and feel like a misfit at the same time.