Self-hatred is worse than loneliness.

The ability to see the future can be a burden, and the younger you are and the more isolated you feel, maybe the more of a burden it is.

If we live long enough, we become caricatures of ourselves.

If I have any advantage, maybe, as a writer, it is that I don't think I'm very interesting. I mean, beginning a novel with the last sentence is a pretty plodding way to spend your life.

Half my life is an act of revision.

Writing is hard. I learned how to work hard from wrestling, not English courses.

She felt detached from her family, and thought it strange how they had lavished so much attention on her, as a child, and then at some appointed, prearranged time they seemed to stop the flow of affection and being the expectations - as if, for a brief phrase, you were expected to absorb love (and get enough), and then, for a much longer and more serious phase, you were expected to fulfill certain obligations.