You can lose a reader in a blink of an eye. If a person is an engineer or chemist or an anthropologist or whatever, you spoil the whole book for that person if there's obviously ignorance here. What's wrong with so much science fiction is that the science is so lousy that it isn't worth paying attention to.

The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage.

I've always felt that no one understands why some books of non-fiction endure and some don't, because there's not much understanding among many non-fiction writers that the narrative is terribly important.

You have to be an extremely good reader to appreciate what a good writer is. There are some people who are completely insensitive to good writing.

You can use a biography to examine political power, but only if you pick the right guy.

I try to have a mood or a rhythm for a chapter.

There used to be this feeling under Eisenhower and Kennedy and Roosevelt and Truman that government was a solution. Trust in the presidency fell precipitously under Johnson - real lows. And it's never come back. It's a trend that, if you're liberal, is really discouraging.