I don't ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning. There they are, and they are beautiful.

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.

There are 10,000 books in my library, and it will keep growing until I die. This has exasperated my daughters, amused my friends and baffled my accountant. If I had not picked up this habit in the library long ago, I would have more money in the bank today; I would not be richer.

Writing is the hardest work in the world not involving heavy lifting.

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

Human beings want to know too much abut each other, and that's why there are so many lies.

He tried to imagine the sound of the color red.