Readers and writers are united in their need for solitude, in their pursuit of substance in a time of ever-increasing evanescence: in their reach inward, via print, for a way out of loneliness.

Integrity's a neutral value. Hyenas have integrity, too. They're pure hyena.

The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator.

I was a late child from my parents, so I grew up surrounded by people a lot older than me. I think even when I was 21, I felt like I was a 70-year-old man.

I find it a huge strain to be responsible for my tastes and be known and defined by them.

It's healthy to say uncle when your bone's about to break.

Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.