I believe that God locates himself at the spot where you recognize your own fallibility....And the paradox of it all has been that whenever I give up I seem to do better.

I am in Boston right now, in fact, to do work at the New England Historical Genealogical Library, where I'm trying to finish up tracing my lineage back to the seventeenth century.

The past was so past it hurt.

God howls with laughter at earthly plans, you know?

The idea to make hotel reviews the form of the novel came first. So I just started writing hotel reviews and tried to come up with a consistent voice.

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.

Maybe when I'm sixty-five I'll talk about my literary life.