My father always had doubts about the Booker prize, although they evaporated on the announcement that he had won it.

Weapons are like money; no one knows the meaning of enough.

When success happens to an English writer, he acquires a new typewriter. When success happens to an American writer, he acquires a new life.

Richard's bookshelves weren't alphabetized. He never had time to alphabetize them. He was always too busy- looking for books he couldn't find.

When I see a lot of young faces in the audience, it's just sort of sinking in how important that is. Because you're old enough now to identify them very strongly as being young - whereas before, of course they were young, because you were young. Now it's not like that.

My 12-year-old daughter said to me, "Enough with the subtitles, Daddy, for crying out loud." Because they always seem to cloud the issue rather than clarify it.

Every writer hopes or boldly assumes that his life is in some sense exemplary, that the particular will turn out to be universal.