People who try hard to do the right thing always seem mad.

The family exists for many reasons, but its most basic function may be to draw together after a member dies.

... suicide gets in the air sometimes. Like a cold germ.

Love among the ruins... I'll tell you something, my friend: Weird love's better than no love at all.

Any statement beginning with the words 'In truth' is almost always a lie.

When you start, it's very cold, an impossible task. But then maybe the characters start to take on a little bit of life, or the story takes a turn that you don't expect ... With me that happens a lot because I don't outline, I just have a vague notion. So it's always felt like less of a made thing and more of a found thing. That's exciting. That's a thrill.

My mother was a reader, and she read to us. She read us Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when I was six and my brother was eight; I never forgot it.