The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn't require any.

Television was the most revolutionary event of the century. Its importance was in a class with the discovery of gunpowder and the invention of the printing press, which changed the human condition for centuries afterward.

My natural instinct after doing something shameful is not to rush into the street boasting about it but to put on dark glasses and head for the next county, hoping nobody notices I've been in the neighborhood.

It was dramatic to watch my grandmother decapitate a turkey with an ax the day before Thanksgiving. Nowadays the expense of hiring grandmothers for the ax work would probably qualify all turkeys so honored with gourmet status.

The charm of television entertainment is its ability to bridge the chasm between dinner and bedtime without mental distraction.

Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down.

Life is always walking up to us and saying, "Come on in, the living's fine," and what do we do? Back off and take its picture.