The Republicans were not always insane. They might've had politics I didn't agree with, but they weren't always actually certifiable.

One of the things a writer is for is to say the unsayable, speak the unspeakable and ask difficult questions.

Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools.

You can't judge an internal injury by the size of the hole.

Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the stars. Keep grinning. Be bloody-minded. Argue with the world. And never forget that writing is as close as we get to keeping a hold on the thousand and one things--childhood, certainties, cities, doubts, dreams, instants, phrases, parents, loves--that go on slipping , like sand, through our fingers.

Fundamentalists of all faiths are the fundamental evil of our time.

The only thing worse than a bad review from the Ayatollah Khomeini would be a good review from the Ayatollah Khomeini.