In The Interestings I wanted to write about what happens to talent over time. In some people talent blooms, in others it falls away.

Objectifying your own novel while writing it never really helps. Instead, I guess while you're writing you need to think: This is the novel I want to write. And when you're done you need to think: This is what the novel I wanted to write feels like and reads like and looks like. Other people might call it sweeping or small, but it's the book you chose.

For me, a novel relying too heavily on a single idea might be a dry, deadly thing unless it possesses an animating force.

Wasn't the whole point of being an artist, or at least part of it, that you didn't have to wear a tie?

You had only one chance for a signature in life, but most people left no impression.

Both my mother and I have close groups of friends that include other writers, and these friendships are very important to us.

I've been waiting for someone to sign the permission slip for me to write about sex. In the meantime, I've written about sex in all my books anyway.