I'm trying to read more dead people because I keep having to read stuff for juries and so forth.

The Great Recession is not imaginary, and the effects loom large. There was an article in the NYT about the galloping death rate among white men in middle age. Higher than among any other demographic, etc. Mostly death by drugs, alcohol, or suicide. Many of them rural. My feeling is that it's many people who haven't been able to get back into the work force. Reg Morse is an example of the problem.

The Ice Storm, because of the movie, has had, or is to have, a vigorous life in other cultures.

I have admired Melissa Pritchard's writing for several years now for its wisdom, its humble elegance, and its earthy comedy.

I think people on antidepressants often lose sexual feelings. I don't mean that I think sex is only about sadness; it is obviously about joy and vitality and birth as well.

Tangled in one another's arms and nine times out of ten the things you think about a person make it impossible to touch them.

I don't know exactly how long the book as we know it will exist, but I fully expect to make it to my death without having to give up on books.