The only thing that exists is torment, lyricism, and the magnificence of language.

I began to write fiction on the assumption that the true enemies of the novel were plot, character, setting and theme, and having once abandoned these familiar ways of thinking about fiction, totality of vision or structure was really all that remained.

I went to a performance of 'The Crucible' at the Guthrie when I was a sophomore in high school, and I knew right away that that's what I wanted to do

Part of the way that I work is to observe.

It's nice to sometimes get things out of life, rather than stealing from other artists. I'm trying to steal from the real people.

I had to go to Sunday school once or twice in my life, and that's where I commented someplace on hearing.

It's hard to tell whether the ship or airplane - they're all the same, I'm convinced - is male or female; it may shift back and forth.