We're all living on borrowed time. The trick is to come up with works of sufficient interest to pay off the debt.

I'm very happy that the New York Times has spoken well of my stuff; who wouldn't be? But it's not a choice I made.

Well, it's an adventure story, and a Bildungsroman, of course, but there was also the intention to describe a culture that had been seen in rather narrow terms.

We're not lost. We're locationally challenged

There are people who believe in an absolutely transparent prose; with every respect for clarity of expression, I don't.

The language fictional characters use is chosen for effect, at least if the author is concentrating.

I long for the simplicity of theatre. I want lessons learned, comeuppances delivered, people sorted out, all before your bladder gets distractingly full. That's what I want. What I know is what we all know, whether we'll admit it or not: every attempt to impose the roundness of a well-made play on reality produces a disaster. Life just isn't so, nor will it be made so.