Panic is an incredibly catalyzing creative force. And almost out of sheer necessity, I found I had to talk about myself and my real life as it is effectively lived by me.

There's a tradition in American fiction that is deadly serious and earnest - like the Steinbeckian social novel.

Only the nerds will save the earth.

I really wouldn't censor myself. But because it was on such a slower scale, I would throw things out, and I indulged the personal stuff as little flashes of truth. Little in-jokes for anyone who was paying particular attention.

I made an impulse buy of a house in Maine to make my wife happy and now have gone back into debt and it's all started over for me.

I am someone who values knowledge, actual knowledge. I also value stories and fiction a whole lot, and that's where the fake knowledge comes in.

I suspect that when the truth ceases to be heartbreakingly funny, we will be in a better place and a happier society over all.