Some literary types subscribe to the notion that being a writer like Salinger entitles a person to remain free of the standards that might apply to mere mortals.

It troubles me that people speak about writing for money as ugly and distasteful.

If a man wishes to truly not be written about, he would do well not to write letters to 18-year-old girls, inviting them into his life.

A good home must be made, not bought.

More than any other setting - more than battlefields or boardrooms or a spaceship headed for intergalactic travel - I'll put my money on the family to provide an endless source of comedy, tragedy and intrigue.

I think of myself as a realistic writer, not a creator of soap opera or melodrama.

You lay your hand against his skin and just rib his back. Blow into his ear. Press that baby up against your own skin and walk outside with him, where the night air will sourround him, and moonlight fall on his face. Whistle, maybe. Dance. Hum. Pray. (how to calm a crying baby)