I suppose I'm proudest of my novels for what's imagined in them. I think the world of my imagination is a richer and more interesting place than my personal biography.

but writers, Garp knew, were just observers - good and ruthless imitators of human behavior.

We permit bad taste in this country. In fact, we even encourage it - and reward it in all manner of ways.

wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn't reading.

when however small a measure of jealousy is mixed with misunderstanding, there is always going to be trouble.

So, I don't work in terms of real time. I don't work in a timely fashion.

This is a writer’s lesson: To learn that the sounds that we imagine can be the clearest, loudest sounds of all.