There's a marvelous sense of mastery that comes with writing a sentence that sounds exactly as you want it to.

When I was a kid, Halloween was strictly a starchy-vegetable-only holiday, with pumpkins and Indian corn on the front stoop; there was nothing electric, nothing inflatable, nothing with latex membranes or strobes.

College athletics are so entrenched and enjoyed by so many people that they will never be discontinued or substantially changed. I know that. I just pity the people caught in that tender trap. And most of all, I pity those kids.

Here's a habit I never thought I'd develop: I gravitate to anything online that's marked 'most popular' or 'most e-mailed.' And I hate myself a little bit every time I do.

Sometimes I think I've figured out some order in the universe, but then I find myself in Florida

I feel somewhat responsible for the Borders Books bankruptcy.

I teach a non-fiction writing class at New York University, and one of my great pleasures is deciding on the syllabus.