One of the weird things about L.A. is that there's always a set of negative perceptions that attaches itself to this city.

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

Jay-Z isn't actually any better than James Joyce even though more people understand him. I'm more interested in what's meaningful within the lives of individuals. And fiction will always be central to the lives of certain people, which is all that matters.

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

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

I don't want to say that having power is overrated, but powerlessness can give rise to a different kind of authority, and that's the kind of authority that writes books.

A lot of talent, a lot of the currency that movies used to have, has spilled over into TV. People talk about TV the way they used to talk about movies and, as much as I hate to say it, the way they used to talk about books.