I have not Googled myself. I have not looked at myself on Amazon. It could drive you wild.

[Our first dinner with Alison McGhee] was at Figlio's [in Minneapolis]. I know exactly what I had, because it was so good: their three-cheese ravioli. But I can't remember what I said to Alison that night that made her laugh so hard. But she got me right away and I got her right away.

But, reader, there is no comfort in the word "farewell," even if you say it in French. "Farewell" is a word that,in any language, is full of sorrow. It is a word that promises absolutely nothing.

The way we started was, Alison [McGhee] said, 'Tall girl, short girl.' We had no plans beyond that.

All of God's creatures have names, every last one of them. Of that I am sure: of that I have no doubt at all.

Magic is always impossible.... It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it's magic.

I think of myself as an enormously lucky person.