Sex is a good starting point for everything.

Everything is cyclical. Historical eras go through times of intense cynicism, broken by periods of intense idealism.

I think attempting to make art is a utopian process in itself, definitely. Nothing I do is ever equal to the ideas in my head. You do the best you can, you do it with patience and love, and then you give up. The moment you give up is when you know the book is done.

At least in my case, a very simple, regular, happy life makes for better writing.

I kept a lot of my thoughts inside myself. So, perhaps more than is normal, I'm always questioning my role as a writer. I'm always stopping and asking myself: Do I have the right to tell this story? Is it a story that deserves to be heard? And as for whether I think of myself as a Writer with a capital "W," I very much hope I never do.

It's wonderful that nothing you write is ever going to be as beautiful as what's in your head, because that gap is where the art can enter and begin to stretch its limbs.

I see ghosts everywhere, and that is partially a function of my being incredibly near-sighted and reading way too late into the night.