If a birth is the fall-out from the explosion caused by the union of two unstable elements, then perhaps a half-life is all we can expect.

Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms.

It may be argued that the past is a country from which we have all emigrated, that its loss is part of our common humanity.

We are described into corners, and then we must describe ourselves out of corners.

If you want to draw people into the story, you really have to write as if you're writing a novel and make these actually-existing people, including the actually-existing person with my name, into a believable person on the page. And that requires distance. That requires not being right up against the events you're talking about.

Everybody loves 'The Wire,' and I think it's okay, but in the end it's just a police series.

There is no magic on earth strong enough to wipe out the legacies of one's parents.