With death comes honesty.

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

My love for Dan Brown knows no bounds. It literally has no mass.

A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.

I don't feel American. I do feel like a New Yorker. I think there's a real distinction there. A city allows you to become a citizen even when you're not a national.

I had a very difficult relationship with my father, which ended up okay, but there were many difficult years.

People would come and threaten them. And they would respond by putting the book in the window. Behind that, the publishers, many of whom were menaced and receiving anonymous phone calls of the very menacing kind and so, almost everybody - not everybody, but almost everybody held the line.