I think there's nothing new going on. Except that, you're even more public than you've ever been.There's some good and some bad to that.

I forget how beautiful and calm California is. It's not so much about the place, but also the age that I came to the place and, well, other things. New York is hard.

I'll say this, and it'll sound like bullshit, but it's not: I don't really pay attention to this stuff [Man Booker Prize] very much. I think part of it is I can see myself wondering who's doing what and getting jealous, and none of that's healthy for me. So I just don't really.

My dad fought in Korea. It was one of the first stories I remember hearing about.

Why are the mainstream buzz things rarely contemporary? It doesn't happen very often. It's hard to feel culpable or implicated or even apathetic.

We don't act the same in every situation. Things bleed into all kinds of other things, from behavior to identity.

It's so hard to say what you really mean. For any number of reasons: to protect yourself, or if you just can't find the words.