When I think back about my immediate reaction to that redheads girl, it seems to spring from an appreciation of natural beauty. I mean the heart pleasure you get from looking at speckled leaves or the palimpsested bark of plane trees in Provence. There was something richly appealing to her color combination, the ginger snaps floating in the milk-white skin, the golden highlights in the strawberry hair. it was like autumn, looking at her. It was like driving up north to see the colors.

I think it is important to remind people of the extent of our free will.

I remember liking to write stories pretty early on. In fourth or fifth grade, they would give us the beginning of a story, and we were supposed to finish it. I remember liking that. But I didn't think about deciding to become a writer until high school at about the age of 16.

My goal in life is to become an adjective.

If Mitchell was ever going to become a good Christian, he would have to stop disliking people so intensely.

They were bound for college, husbands, child-rearing, unhappiness only dimly perceived- bound, in other words, for life.

Detroit's a great music town. If your interaction with it was mainly musical, I'm sure you have a good opinion of the place.