I liked Camille Paglia. I liked her even better when I heard her talk.

I like that people who are not experts can not only understand but get engaged by my work. I like that Joe Paterno can read me. Bill Bradley.

Faulkner turned out to be a great teacher. When a student asked a question ineptly, he answered the question with what the student had really wanted to know.

I think the pattern of my essays is, A funny thing happened to me on my way through Finnegans Wake.

I long for the raised voice, the howl of rage or love.

DeLillo never seems committed to me to what he is writing. Very nice surfaces, but he's got nothing underneath.

The novel is always pop art, and the novel is always dying. That's the only way it stays alive. It does really die. I've been thinking about that a lot.