To me gay rights is the last civil right that we have not granted in America and I think it's an enormous embarrassment.

Once the world was pulled out from beneath your feet, did you ever get to stand on firm ground again?

How can you be a survivor, when you can't even remember the war?

I think that ordinary people who are placed in extraordinary circumstances find themselves pushed beyond their limits, and learn new truths about themselves.

The act of writing... is the act of trying to understand why my opinion is what it is. And ultimately, I think that's the same experience the reader has when they pick up one of my books.

[There's a] point where you have to leave the dough alone. It's silly to anthropomorphize bread, but I love the fact that it needs to sit quietly, to retreat from touch and noise and drama, in order to evolve. I have to admit, I often feel that way myself.

It is strange to think that we might have crossed paths, and still not have known what we were missing.