I'm not terribly happy about rock and roll. Certain rock music is uninspiring, numbing; it makes you feel like an idiot.

I don't have traceable literary models because I haven't had great literary influences in my life.

I locate that special problem in a character and then try to understand it. That's the genesis of all my work.

I have written every one of my novels to convince somebody of something.

The translator's task is to create, in his or her own language, the same tensions appearing in the original. That's hard!

Teaching is a good distraction, and I am in contact with young people, which is very gratifying.

I believe in characters as vehicles of exposition. Their voices are full of hidden clues, and I like to listen to them.