That would be the death of anyone - to recognize false hopes with a certainty. One mustn't know that. If it is offered, refuse!

A book can just be a description of a stick being snapped in half. If the reader is brought to feel the plight of the stick, well, you can imagine what that would be like.

I have a very basic notion of the structure the book might have - that's mostly it. The rest is luck and happenstance.

I'd say writing is easier for me now than it once was, but I do less of it.

It is at the heart of our human enterprise, that is to say, at the heart of society, to allow consensus a power it ought not to have.

I don't read books for pleasure, but in desperation.

If Americans are to read something that is difficult, they will only do so supposing they will be admired for having done it.