I'm an equal opportunity reader - although I don't much read plays. And since I was raised a Presbyterian, pretty much all pleasures are guilty.

Happiness for me is getting to write about the most important things I know.

Americans don't have saner gun laws because most Americans, including those citizens who puzzle over better angels, don't want saner gun laws.

The world is a more engaging and less dramatic place than writers ever give it credit for being

I didn't feel up to writing about 9/11. If I were to write about it, it would take me years.

I get very involved in the internal logic of sentences.

I've been mainly a happy boy in my life. I married the right girl and we did what we wanted to do.