I studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own.

To be inclusive you must accommodate different levels of sophistication.

If you think of even Tolstoy or a book like 'Anna Karenina,' you go from character to character, and each section is from the third person perspective of a different character, so you get to see the whole world a little more kaleidoscopically that way. That's traditional narrative manner, and I haven't done a book like that before, but I enjoyed it.

Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It's always there, though.

A girl's not a watermelon you plug a hole in to see if it's sweet.

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

You never get over it, but you get to where it doesn't bother you so much.