Worse, I have to admit to feeling the jealousy of one crab for another that has managed to climb out of the barrel.

You can't possibly judge your ability to control something until you've experienced the extremes of its capabilities. Do you understand?

What I discovered I liked best about striking out on my bicycle was that the farther I got from home, the more interesting and unusual my thoughts became.

I don't think there's a shortage of material in the world. Or in my head. I just pray for continued good health, because I've got other stories to tell.

Not everyone writes well from a child's point of view.

Go to it. Be bold. Be true. Be kind. Rotate your tires. Don't drink so much. There aren't going to be enough liver transplants to go around.

My books are elegiac in the sense that they're odes to a nation that even I sometimes think may not exist anymore except in my memory and my imagination.