A small olive-skinned creature who had hit puberty but never hit it very hard, Ben had been my best friend since fifth grade, when we both finally owned up to the fact that neither of us was likely to attract anyone else as a best friend.

I wrote my first novel and my second novel in Chicago. It was the place where I became a writer. It's my favorite city.

A desert blessing, an ocean curse.

Barnacles on the container ship of consciousness.

The miracle and hope of human consciousness is that we can still conceive of boundlessness.

Suffering is universal. it’s the one thing Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims are all worried about.

The missing piece in his stomach hurt so much-and eventually he stopped thinking about the Theorem and wondered only how something that isn't there can hurt you.