To be true to life, a novel must have an ending that is inevitable given the specific personalities of the characters involved. The novelist must not impose an ending upon them.

That is the mystery: Reading Henry James can yield prose that is contrary to James, yet inspired by him. Who can understand this?

Strange: how when a light is extinguished, it's immediately as if it has never been. Darkness fills in again, complete.

All actors are whores. They want only one thing: to seduce you.

I am always reading or thinking about reading.

Betrayal is the deepest wound. Betrayal is what remains of love, when love has gone.

If I'm writing, I'll say something metaphorical or approximate, whereas scientists are very precise.