I turned forty, and Im finally going to get married and maybe have a kid.

The process of composition, messing around with paragraphs and trying to make really good prose, is hardwired into my personality.

I think literature is best when it's voicing what we would prefer not to talk about.

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.

The past was so past it hurt.

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.

People know that pain is part of our nature, that it cannot be avoided and that it should not be avoided. But capitalism in this country is focused on the idea 1) that life can and should be absolutely beautiful; 2) that beauty can be defined according to an ironclad objective standard; 3) that beauty can be held onto forever if only you do the right things perfectly enough; and 4) that it can be purchased.