...crushed between the fears of going forward and the dread of going back.

Secrets are like pregnancies hereabouts. You can hide them for a while but then they will start screaming.

Try pitching a story of happiness to your editors and their toes are going to curl up.

I was captivated by Sherrie Flick's meticulous and intelligent study of Margaret and Vivette, and the men they share. Reconsidering Happiness is a courageously intimate novel about the young women of modern America, their friendships, their betrayals, and their anxious cravings for everything from sex to pastry.

...crushed between the fears of going forward and the dread of going back.

To ask a novelist to talk about his novels is like asking somebody to cook about their dancing.

Retiring from writing is not to retire from life, but retiring from writing is to avoid the inevitable bitterness which a writing career is bound to deliver as its end product, in almost every case.