Before you can write a novel you have to have a number of ideas that come together. One idea is not enough.

Art does the same things dreams do. We have a hunger for dreams and art fulfills that hunger. So much of real life is a disappointment. That's why we have art.

Critics sometimes appear to be addressing themselves to works other than those I remember writing.

Death is just the last scene of the last act.

I think whenever we think of our hometowns, we tend to think of very specific people: with whom you rode on the school bus, who was your next door neighbor you were playing with, who your girlfriend was. It's always something very specific.

I could never take the idea of religion very seriously.

Truths are the last thing you learn about your family. By the time you learn, you're no longer their child.