Novel writing is solitary work.

Sufi poetry is, in a sense, self-help poetry about how to live a decent life, how to deal with your mortality.

Religion is not something I like to talk about publicly. One reason is the politics, but also I think spirituality is deeply personal.

How many big businesses don't resort to underhand means?

In a way, every parent is sort of dependent on the benevolence of the society around them to take care of their children.

We keep the negative stuff because it's the negative stuff that's going to, you know, potentially kill us. That fin in the water - maybe it is a shark. That yellow thing behind the tree - maybe it is a lion. You need to be scared.

My earliest memories are of watching Star Trek and MASH while my parents barbecued chicken in the back yard. I was an American kid, through and through.