He thought it might be the most intimate thing possible, to fall asleep next to someone in the afternoon.

I think the path to becoming a writer has become more through the novel. It's easier to get a novel published than a book of stories, obviously, especially through big publishers.

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

The first seven years that I wrote fiction, I sent out stories and a novel and made a total of $25.

This is what happens when you live in dreams, he thought: you dream this and you dream that and you sleep right through your life.

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.

And if a moment exists only in one's perception anyway, then perhaps the rush of feeling he has now is THE MOMENT, and not merely its shadow.