I was brought up to be sympathetic toward others.

Why is humanism not the preeminent belief of humankind?

Except that awards are competitive, which is a negative thing, they are wonderful for singling out deserving individuals and bringing their work to the attention of many potential readers who might otherwise have been totally unaware of them.

Society is the picnic certain individuals leave early, the party they fail to enjoy, the musical comedy they find not worth the price of admission.

Obviously, there is pleasure in the execution of any sort of art, and using language, as Nabokov felt also, is an exquisite process.

Not what the mind sees, but what the mind imagines the eye must see.

Ambitious, absorbing, and poignantly moving.