Being a teacher at a restaurant in the town where you lived was a little like being a TV star.

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

Twitter," said Manny, waving his hand. "You know what that is? Termites with microphones.

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

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

We do seem, as a culture, to fetishize the "sweep." But I know there's room for "big" short, fierce novels, and "big" solid ones.

The minute you had kids you closed ranks. You didn't plan this in advance, but it happened. Families were like individual, discrete, moated island nations. The little group of citizens on the slab of rock gathered together instinctively, almost defensively, and everyone who was outside the walls—even if you'd once been best friends—was now just that, outsiders.