Books are not men and yet they are alive.

There's nothing compared to the history of writing about the city of New York that you get, say, in Charles Reznikoff.

Since graveyards are often built over older burial grounds, I assume Dolores Park was probably an Indian, (an Ohlone) graveyard before that. I think the fact that it has so many layers underneath the contemporary one intrigues me.

I've been reading a lot lately about Indian captives. One woman who had been captured by the Indians and made a squaw was resentful when she was rescued because she'd found that there was a lot more work to do as the wife of a white man.

Occasionally I encounter people getting into their cars who will say, "Oh, you haven't been walking lately" - like I'm a symbol of the ancient art of walking!

I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp, gaunt names that never get fat.

You can take off your hats now, gentlemen, and I think perhaps you'd better.