With a novelist, like a surgeon, you have to get a feeling that you've fallen into good hands - someone from whom you can accept the anesthetic with confidence.

I am more stupid about some things than others; not equally stupid in all directions; I am not a well-rounded person.

There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.

And what about all the good I have in my heart - does it mean anything?

Death is the dark backing a mirror needs if we are to see anything

He believed that he must, that he could and would recover the good things, the happy things, the easy tranquil things of life. He had made mistakes, but he could overlook these. He had been a fool, but that could be forgiven. The time wasted--must be relinquished. What else could one do about it? Things were too complex, but they might be reduced to simplicity again. Recovery was possible.

I am an American – Chicago born.