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

I'm trying to make sure that there's comedy as well as sadness. It makes the sadness more memorable.

I judged about a zillion awards this year so Ive been reading a lot of books that just came out.

There’s something really rich and powerful in not talking about what you need to talk about sometimes.

Capitalism, in the realm of sexuality, I figure, thinks that we behave in specific ways, like a breast is always going to produce a hard-on for some product, whereas the truth is that sexuality is always a continuum, which can be characterized by reversals.

I believe in the absolute and unlimited liberty of reading. I believe in wandering through the stacks and picking out the first thing that strikes me. I believe in choosing books based on the dust jacket.

I sort of hate the novel when it doesn't push, restlessly, against the tradition and the traditional.