You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you just have to find it.

I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti

He sees very clearly - he damn sure sees through me. It's hard to accept that someone can understand you without wishing you well. At Starling's age it hadn't happened to her much.

I have no interest in understanding sheep, only eating them.

It's hard to have anything isn't it? Rare to get it, hard to keep it. This is a damn slippery planet.

One can only see what one observes, and one observes only things which are already in the mind.

Intense fear comes in waves; the body can't stand it for long at a time.