I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.

My novels are certainly more exciting than my own life.

He'd never had to make the adjustments and compromises other people accepted early in their romantic careers; never had a chance to learn the lesson that Sarah taught him everyday--that beauty was only a part of it, and not even the most important part, that there were transactions between people that occurred on some mysterious level beneath the skin, or maybe even beyond the body.

It's not the cheating. It's the hunger for an alternative. The refusal to accept unhappiness.

My mythic version of America is very much about parents and children, and in my experience, the suburban setting is where that particular drama plays out. Which isn't to say that there aren't parents and children in cities or on farms. I just don't know them.

He made me think of all the books I hadn't read, and all the ones I'd read but hadn't fully understood.

Once you'd broken through that invisible barrier that separates one person from another, you were connected forever, whether you liked it or not.