In short, everything about his life was different for him at the bottom of that well.

My circumstances of unrelieved responsibility and permanent distraction necessitated the short story form.

Art doesn't have to do anything. It just has to be there for the fierce pleasure we take in doing it.

There is no answer. It's okay. But even if it wasn't okay, what am I supposed to do?

We knew our days were numbered. We had fouled up our lives and we were getting ready for a shake-up.

Isak Dinesen said that she wrote a little every day, without hope and without despair. I like that.

I've done as many as 20 or 30 drafts of a story. Never less than 10 or 12 drafts.