Everybody dies … The thing is, to have a life before we die.

I have always believed that, in a story, if something traumatic or calamitous enough happens to a kid at a formative age, that will make him or her the adult they become.

I'm old-fashioned, a storyteller. I'm not an analyst and I'm not an intellectual.

I believe a novel should be as complicated and involved as you're capable of making it.

Human sexuality makes farcical our most serious intentions.

The desire to never leave your side, the desire to never see you again. The desire to see your face asleep on the pillow beside my face and to see your eyes open in the morning when I lie next to you—just watching you, waiting for you to wake up.

If you don't feel that you are possibly on the edge of humiliating yourself, of losing control of the whole thing, then probably what you are doing isn't very vital.