Fathering imposed an obligation that was more than your money, your body, or your time, a presence neither physical nor measurable by clocks: open-ended, eternal, and invisible, like the commitment of gravity to the stars.

All male friendships are essentially quixotic: they last only so long as each man is willing to polish the shaving-bowl helmet, climb on his donkey, and ride off after the other in pursuit of illusive glory and questionable adventure.

With patience and calm, persistence and stoicism, good handwriting and careful labeling, they would meet persecution, indignity, and hardship head-on.

He is by nature a vegetarian but would never consider giving up meat.

When I'm writing solitude feels very good. But when I'm not writing it feels lonely... Having a big family solves that problem.

It's always been hard for me to tell the difference between denial and what used to be known as hope.

I love Richard Yates, his work, and the novel, Revolutionary Road. It's a devastating novel.