The night was a time for bestial affinities, for drawing closer to oneself.

But there were too many points at which the other self could invade the self he wanted to preserve, and there were too many forms of invasion: certain words, sounds, lights, actions his hands or feet performed, and if he did nothing at all, heard and saw nothing, the shouting of some triumphant inner voice that shocked him and cowed him.

When I am thickening my plots, I like to think 'What if ... What if ... ' Thus my imagination can move from the likely, which everyone can think of, to the unlikely-but-possible, my preferred plot.

Dusk was falling quickly. It was just after 7 P.M., and the month was October.

Each book is, in a sense, an argument with myself, and I would write it, whether it is ever published or not.

The first person you should think of pleasing, in writing a book, is yourself. If you can amuse yourself for the length of time it takes to write a book, the publisher and the readers can and will come later.

Robert Walker as Bruno was excellent. He had elegance and humor, and the proper fondness for his mother