By ignoring a lot of American culture you can write more interesting stories. Unfortunately, if you were writing about America as it is, you'd be writing about a lot of people sitting in front of television sets.

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

I'll tell you one thing, though. It's a terrible thing to be a disappointment to a good woman.

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

My God, he couldn't help thinking, how terrible it is to be that age, to have emotions so near the surface that the slightest turbulence causes them to boil over. That, very simply, was what adulthood must be all about -- acquiring the skill to bury things more deeply. Out of sight and, whenever possible, out of mind.

I think it would be harder for me not to write comedy because the comic view of things is the one that comes most naturally to me.

When you don't know what to do, try something; if that doesn't work, try something else.