There follows a little obscenity here, a dash of philosophy there, considerable whining overall, and a modern satirical novel is born.

My capacity for having a good time exists. It surfaces, however, on odd occasions.

Nice criticism is good when it tells you something. A lot of negative "criticism" isn't criticism at all: it's just nasty, "writerly" cliché and invective.

Things have changed very much, several times, since I grew up, and, like everyone in New York except the intellectuals, I have led several lives and I still lead some of them.

Lyda was an exuberant, even a dramatic gardener.... She was always holding up a lettuce or a bunch of radishes with an air of resolute courage, as though she had shot them herself.

The whole magic of a plot requires that somebody be impeded from getting something over with.

Do you realize how angry you sound?” must be one of the most infuriating questions in the language.