Place is character. And all writing is regional.

A lack of narrative structure, as you know, will cause anxiety.

Every act of loving affirms the goodness of the lover just because he is capable of loving and being loved.

If you think about it, fiction is nothing more than gossip about the people you've made up.

Love is always a surprise and you never get it right.

Drug programs began to turn their attention and money away from prevention and into maintenance. Methadone was cheaper than social workers, I suppose.

I had begun what I thought might be a career in social work. I was married and deeply involved in the anti-war movement. I thought I'd go about saving the world one person at a time. I worked with kids, teenagers mostly, in neighborhood centers, on the streets, and eventually in a drop-in center.