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

I thought, writing is everything, it's so much more important than this or that. If only I could give that young man a stern talking to. Having a child changes things quite a bit.

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

Everybody says, TV is great, the writer has so much power. I'm still trying to convince myself that's true. When do the writers ever have power? Ever? They don't. Even in the book industry.

There was a moment when the Berlin Wall came down and some people felt, "Oh capitalism won. That's the ideology we can believe in now."

I think writers can gain a lot of vitality from being misread.

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