One can imagine a world without essays. It would be a little poorer, of course, like a world without chess, but one could live in it.

I love Chekhov. I could go on all day about him.

Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.

It's probably why I'm a short story writer. I tend to remember things in the past in narrative form, in story form, and I grew up around people who told stories all the time.

Fearlessness in those without power is maddening to those who have it.

But a lot of writers - and I'm one of them - do tend to feel dissatisfied. It makes you a little hard to live with, but it's a goad and does keep you alert and restless.

Like so many writers I started writing stories because I didn't have much time for anything else.