There are always so many things happening [to us] at one time. We read Isherwood's A Single Man in class, and we had to ask: How is he talking about all this stuff: teaching, being lonely, all his memories, all at the same time? He's telling us: This is where my head is at, let me be straightforward. And of course, try be artful about it.

The anger and fear are so global. And of course, we live where we live and there's a hierarchy to who is worth what. It's been going on for a long, long time.

I've written a little bit in Germany.

The Sellout is about friends and relatives who have touched me in real ways.

Like when you have the right title for something you're writing and you get lost - you can always go back to the title and go, "Yeah, that's what this is about."

Don't write about trying to change the world, just write about a changed world or a world that's not changing. Let that do the work.

I'm healthier in California, probably a little happier, maybe.