There are so many talented young writers named Jonathan, with whom by comparison I suffer terribly.

I didn't play or like a lot of board games as a child. I liked playing with my G.I. Joes and making up adventures for them.

I promote my own self-hatred.

Don't hold me to anything in the book. I'm a waffler. I like wafflers. They said John Kerry was a waffler, but I admired him for that - showed he could change his mind.

It's hard for me to think of writing a novel, because it takes so long.

A lot of writing is a form of seeing - putting down what you see in terms of action and landscape.

From age 23 to 44 - I'm 45 now - I was always in need of money, and I was especially in need of it from 23 to about 34, and my great aunt would always give me money, a hundred bucks, every two months or so, and a lot of times that hundred bucks made a huge difference - I could eat or pay a small bill. It kept me going. She gave me money. It was very loving.