When people in my generation started to write, we did not actually have much of a movie industry, much of a theater scene, much of a television industry or other creative outlets. But we had a lot of aspiring writers. All that has changed. We now have a movie industry, television industry and lots of theater. But we have retained a large contingent of writers and a dedicated readership. The larger number of people in society who value writing, the larger number of good writers will be produced. That's my belief. It raises the bar.

More powerful than God, more evil than the Devil; the poor have it, the rich lack it, and if you eat it you die?

I would not change [my past work] anymore than I would airbrush a photo of myself.

Teaching other people to write is not something I can do. The only kind of advice I can give them will be trite by its nature. Of course, read a lot, write a lot. The kind of advice I wish I had been given is all of a practical nature, having to do with publishers and agents.

They seemed to be able to choose. We seemed to be able to choose, then. We were a society dying of too much choice.

He considers me also a little fragile because artistic. I need to be cared for, like a potted plant.

She had her reasons. Not that they were the same as anybody else's reasons.