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.

There are two kinds of brave men: those who are brave by the grace of nature, and those who are brave by an act of will.

America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants who live in the center, in the serene eye of the big wind.

I'm a great believer in the hereafter, in karma, in reincarnation. It does make sense. I believe that God is not just a law-giver, but a creative artist. The greatest of all. And what characterises artists is that they want to redo their work. Maybe it didn't come off perfectly, so they want to see it done again, and improved. Reincarnation is a way for God to improve his earlier works.

Every time a story about me appears in a newspaper, I am injured professionally.

I think it's bad to talk about one's present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension.

Masculinity is not something given to you, but something you gain. And you gain it by winning small battles with honor.