Whatever I write, no matter how gray or dark the subject matter, it's still going to be a comic novel.

I have no respect for the right-to-life position, though I have every respect for an individual who says, "I could never have that procedure, I could never see a film or read a book about that procedure." It doesn't bother me if people feel that way.

… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.

It is hard work and great art to make life not so serious.

It's because even a good man can't always be right, that we need ... rules.

I think the sport of wrestling, which I became involved with at the age of 14... I competed until I was 34, kind of old for a contact sport. I coached the sport until I was 47. I think the discipline of wrestling has given me the discipline I have to write.

Wrestling was my first success, the first thing that confirmed that I could be good at anything. Devoting yourself to wrestling, or tennis, or skiing, or dance, or to a musical instrument is a longing to be disciplined for a purpose.