To rehearse imaginary conversations on paper is called literature. To do so out loud is called madness.

The future can always wait so long as the here-and-now is rapturous.

Desire is an appetite, quickly sated. Longing is a wound, an opening in the heart or the spirit. Whatever the cause, whatever the duration, it almost always leaves a scar.

All writers are insecure, the male ones especially. It's well known. Why else would they spend so much time on make-believe? They're only happy in their imaginary worlds, because that's where they're in charge - where they're God. Did you know that Hemingway's mother dressed him as a girl until he was six years old?" I was not offended by Claudia's glib psychological theory. Like many glib psychological theories, it struck me as fundamentally correct.

I wanted her body and soul, but body first.

To rehearse imaginary conversations on paper is called literature. To do so out loud is called madness.

We drank our coffee the Russian way. That is to say we had vodka before it and vodka afterwards.