To be honest, the only thing I ever really wanted to be was a writer - since I read 'Charlotte's Web' as a child.

Few things are better in the world than a room full of librarians. I consider them literary heroes. The keepers and defenders of the written word.

What people mistook for safety was in fact captivity.

When someone stabs you it's not your fault that you feel pain.

Every decade of my life I attempted to write a novel. But I had nothing to say. I was far too self-absorbed, and now I realize I was writing for others, so that they'd applaud me, see my genius, tell me how wonderful I am, or be jealous of my success.

A good novel is a good novel, pointe finale. And I think what I'm writing is exactly that.

Now here's a good one: you're lying on your deathbed. You have one hour to live. Who is it, exactly, you have needed all these years to forgive?