The only way to fight nostalgia is to listen to somebody else's nostalgia

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

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.

One thing is certain: for many of those who came back from WWII, the music of Frank Sinatra was no consolation for their losses. Some had lost friends. Some had lost wives and lovers. All had lost portions of their youth. More important to the Sinatra career the girls started marrying the men who came home. Bobby socks vanished from many closets. The girls who wore them had no need anymore for imaginary lovers; they had husbands. Nothing is more embarrassing to grownups than the passions of adolescence, and for many, Frank Sinatra was the passion.

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

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

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