A book of great beauty and manically exquisite insight with a wild and deadly humor . . . The only American novelist who may conceivably be possessed by genius.

No physical activity is so vain as boxing. A man gets into the ring to attract admiration. In no sport, therefore, can you be more humiliated.

Amateurs... venture into scenes that a writer with more experience (and more professional concern) would bypass or eschew altogether.

I think the internet is the greatest waste of time since masturbation was discovered.

The mark of mediocrity is to look for precedent.

I take it for granted that there's a side of me that loves public action, and there's another side of me that really wants to be alone and work and write. And I've learned to alternate the two as matters develop.

Because there is very little honor left in American life, there is a certain built-in tendency to destroy masculinity in American men.