What's important is that a story changes every time you say it out loud. When you put it on paper, it can never change. But the more times you tell it, the more changes will occur. A story is a living thing; it moves and shifts

We wait for the tortoises to come. We wait for that lady who walks them. That’s how art works. It’s never a jackrabbit, or a racehorse. It’s the tortoises that hold all the secrets. We’ve got to be patient enough to wait for them.

Here is all I ask of a book- give me everything. Everything, and don't leave out a single word.

Like everything else, love's not worth much without some action to back it up.

When men talk about the agony of being men, they can never quite get away from the recurrent theme of self-pity. And when women talk about being women, they can never quite get away from the recurrent theme of blaming men.

There is no teacher more discriminating or transforming than loss.

I've never cackled with laughter at a single line I've ever written. None of it has given me pleasure.