I'm always telling myself as I write that I'm not really writing a novel; I'm just going to fool around with a character or an idea.

I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence.

It doesn't matter how big the body, it's what you do with it.

I don't mean to be insolent. I'm truthful. I tell the truth and the truth sometimes hurts. For instance, you have bad breath, Lieutenant. I can smell it from here. It must offend a lot of people. That's the truth. But how many people have told you that? Instead, they either lie or try to avoid your company.

Everybody sins, Francis. The terrible thing is that we love our sins. We love the thing that makes us evil.

Salinger is such a terrific writer; he did so many great things. He is one of those writers that I still reread, simply because he makes me see the possibilities and makes me feel like writing. There are certain writers who put you in the mood to write. In the way a whiff of a cigar will bring back memories of a ballgame on a Saturday afternoon, reading Salinger makes me want to get to the typewriter.

When people say they write for themselves, that's probably what they do. I will admit that I don't write for myself; I write to be read. I've got the reader in my mind all the time.