People might be surprised to know how much I throw away. For every page I publish, I throw 10 pages away.

Perhaps the inevitable tragedy of our complex civilization is that we must be specialists in our fields - and our fields have become increasingly difficult, so that communication is nearly impossible.

The novel is the affliction for which only the novel is the cure.

You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.

Boxing is a celebration of the lost religion of masculinity all the more trenchant for its being lost.

Anyone who teaches knows that you don't really experience a text until you've taught it, in loving detail, with an intelligent and responsive class.

Don't try to anticipate an ideal reader - or any reader. He/she might exist - but is reading someone else.