A prison does not only lock its inmates inside, it keeps all others out. Her strongest prison is of her own construction.

It's rather useless to write a gripping narrative with nothing in it but climate change because novels are always about people even if they purport to be about rabbits or robots.

We'll choose knowledge no matter what, we'll maim ourselves in the process, we'll stick our hands into the flames for it if necessary. Curiosity is not our only motive; love or grief or despair or hatred is what drives us on. We'll spy relentlessly on the dead; we'll open their letters, we'll read their journals, we'll go through their trash, hoping for a hint, a final word, an explanation, from those who have deserted us--who've left us holding the bag, which is often a good deal emptier than we'd supposed.

Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.

In the end, we'll all become stories.

There's something to be said for hunger: at least it lets you know you're still alive.

Even an obvious fabrication is some comfort when you have few others.