You hope that people read your book and say "Yes, this is the way it is or could be." But then you have no way of knowing until the reader reads the book. Actually, the critical response doesn't worry me. I've had very few reviews that have upset me.

He was swept with a sadness, a sadness deep and penetrating, leaving him desolate like someone washed up on a beach, a lone survivor in a world full of strangers.

It's amazing that the heart makes no noise when it cracks.

I write very tightly, and my big fear is boring people. I want them to read quickly, stopped in their tracks. I resist indulging myself.

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

Why did the wise guys always accuse other people of being wise guys?

Don't miss the bus, boy. You're missing a lot of things in the world, better not miss that bus.