Newspapers are even worse for me than ice cream; headlines, and the big issues that generate the headlines, are pure fat.

When I finally write the first sentence, I want to know everything that happens, so that I am not inventing the story as I write it - rather, I am remembering a story that has already happened.

This was not of the nature of a Christlike lesson for Owen Meany to learn, as he lay in the manger, that someone you hate can give you a hard-on.

The unspoken factor is love. The reason I can work so hard at my writing is that it's not work for me.

Lilly was not crazy. She left a serious suicide note. 'Sorry,' said the note. 'Just not big enough.

Newspapers are even worse for me than ice cream; headlines, and the big issues that generate the headlines, are pure fat.

I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I have nothing but sympathy for how people behave - and nothing but laughter to console them with.