Literature, art, like civilization itself, are only accidents.

None of the rest of my life figures here.

In no other sport is the connection between performer and observer so intimate, so frequently painful, so unresolved

Cherie, keep walking. Shut your eyes. We are headed for the bridge. We are going to cross it.

Each genre exerts a considerable spell, as a kind of "form" to be filled, as a Shakespearean sonnet is filled.

I don't teach literature from my perspective as 'Joyce Carol Oates.' I try to teach fiction from the perspective of each writer. If I'm teaching a story by Hemingway, my endeavor is to present the story that Hemingway wrote in its fullest realization.

Our house is made of glass... and our lives are made of glass; and there is nothing we can do to protect ourselves.