The first book we fall in love with shapes us every bit as much as the first person we fall in love with.

Every small town that I had ever been to had had a caboose.

Buying a book is not about obtaining a possession, but about securing a portal.

People like to complain about the state of contemporary literature, but I can only assume they don't read it very widely.

But there is so much more to do for the city we love... a Dallas with roads as strong as our businesses, parks as beautiful as our children, a downtown as tall as our imagination.

Nonfiction brought me back to earth and sobered me up whenever it seemed like I'd become too drunk on the lives and loves of imaginary people, but that doesn't mean it was any less thrilling or transporting, although it was often more illuminating.

The past is a very determined ghost, haunting every chance it gets.