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

I spend most of every day writing. I like to write every day if I can. I don't start extremely early.

She could become a spinster, like Emily Dickinson, writing poems full of dashes and brilliance, and never gaining weight.

You used to be able to tell a person's nationality by the face. Immigration ended that. Next you discerned nationality via the footwear. Globalization ended that.

She wanted a book to take her places she couldn't get to herself.

I tell my students that when you write, you should pretend you’re writing the best letter you ever wrote to the smartest friend you have. That way, you’ll never dumb things down. You won’t have to explain things that don’t need explaining. You’ll assume an intimacy and a natural shorthand, which is good because readers are smart and don’t wish to be condescended to.

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