I think of memory as a game, that is as something one engages in with a very profound kind of "playfulness."

I have an enduring, very robust infatuation with dictators. I have an infatuation with Stalin, Mao, and Mussolini. In the Paris Review interview I did (in 2013), I said my next book, this one, was going to be about Mussolini. I wound up only having a Mussolini cameo in the book.

My relationship with my readers is somewhat theatrical. One of the main things I try to do in my work is delight my readers.

I can tell from about 20 yards away when someone has a manuscript for me. I can just tell - they have that look.

I've always been entranced with theater.

I'm fascinated with video games, though I can't really play them. It's definitely an art form that intrigues me to no end, though.

Sometimes I think my purpose is as a saboteur when I'm working with other people, derailing what they're trying to do or taking things to a ludicrous extremity.