Because I'm a novelist, I think in terms of structure. The way I keep going is through structure. It's what inspires me and pushes me through.

Stories are people. I'm a story, you're a story ... your father is a story. Our stories go in every direction, but sometimes, if we're lucky, our stories join into one, and for a while, we're less alone.

If a police officer arrests a mime, does he need to tell him he has the right to remain silent.

You have to do disappointment twice.

I don't know a family that isn't touched by some sort of addiction.

No one gets to tell you what your life means!

I realized the structure in a collection is how they're put together. Structuring the collection became the art of it for me. Because the stories had all been written.