Jerome Charyn is one of the most important writers in American literature and one of only three now writing whose work makes me truly happy to be a reader.

He was a fugitive, lurking soul, James Leer. He didn't belong anywhere, but things went much better for him in places where nobody belonged.

Take care-there is no force more powerful than that of an unbridled imagination.

I said, “I need to hear something that’s going to save my life.” Re: Selecting songs from a jukebox.

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

A hope fulfilled is already half a disappointment.

When I first decided I wanted to be a writer, when I was 10, 11 years old, the books that I loved obviously and openly fit that description: They came with maps and glossaries and timelines - books like Lord Of The Rings, Dune, The Chronicles Of Narnia. I imagined that's what being a writer was: You invented a world, and you did it in a very detailed way, and you told stories that were set in that world.