The culture of drink endures because it offers so many rewards: confidence for the shy, clarity for the uncertain, solace to the wounded and lonely, and above all, the elusive promises of friendship and love.

There is a growing feeling that perhaps Texas is really another country, a place where the skies, the disasters, the diamonds, the politicians, the women, the fortunes, the football players and the murders are all bigger than anywhere else.

He tried to imagine the sound of the color red.

In the end, the only thing the true New Yorker knows about New York is that it is unknowable.

The goal is to be both disciplined and loose, so that the writing does not turn into a task or a chore. To leave myself behind, along with the mechanics, and disappear into the lives of my characters.

More than anything, it's a game of innocence. Politicians may come and go, but they always get booed at the ballpark.

Frank Sinatra was the voice of the 20th-century American city.