You don't want to let go, but don't want to be hurt, either. It's not a great place to be but what can I tell you?

In my mind what novels do best is that they immerse us deeply into our character's world - they truly transport us deep into these spaces - but the same way you know a Hollywood movie won't end after thirty minutes, you carry in yourself the implicit contract that the novel won't throw you out of itself 'til the very end. That bulk of pages is a form of consolation, of security.

I think that if you're writing about the human condition, my God, you've got to start at base: point zero, point one, is the body.

I can't imagine anybody who ends up being an artist who didn't pass through a time of geekiness.

The body is what reminds us on a daily basis that we're human. The body defies us, it betrays us, we have to struggle with it, you know. And it reveals in curious and in abiding ways how we are not perfect.

Katrina was one of those things that rips the clothes off of the guy who keeps saying he's a saint, and underneath you see that he's a monster.

Literature is less involved in giving you answers and more dedicated to giving you insight.