Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.

It must happen to everyone. The last time you make love, you can't know it will be the last.

I am the presence standing here at this juncture of Time & Space- who else?

My first love was reading, which inspired me to write.

The suicide does not play the game, does not observe the rules. He leaves the party too soon, and leaves the other guests painfully uncomfortable.

One of the qualities of writing that is not much stressed is its problem-solving aspect, having to do with the presentation of material: how to structure it, what sort of sentences (direct, elliptical, simple or compound, syntactically elaborate), what tone (in art, "tone" is everything), pacing. Paragraphing is a way of dramatization, as the look of a poem on a page is dramatic; where to break lines, where to end sentences.

The novel is perhaps the highest art form because it so closely resembles life: it is about human relationships. It's technique, page by page, resembles our technique of living day by day-a way of relating.