Sometimes it seems to me that the celebration of a person is really just a prelude to ridicule.

We go to literature because it shows us some set of humane values. It is showing us how to live.

When I moved to SF in my early 20s, I loved it, but I was absolutely astonished to discover that people there hated L.A. I was just like why? Really? I had no idea.

The novelist is frequently considered to be an impediment.

I don't feel like I'm self-conscious about what's next. I don't care. I know what it's like to be ignored, and I know what it's like not to be.

I sometimes get asked if I think about film stuff while I'm writing fiction, and the answer is, of course not.

I worked in the mail room at CAA when I was in high school. I worked in the literary department, too. That was my after school job, believe it or not: I would read manuscripts and then evaluations on whether or not I thought they'd make good movies. Which was fascinating and kind of hilarious to me at the time.