It's like the human race has been programmed for misery.

I really wanted to be a musician, but it turned out I had no sense of time.

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.

Nothing beats novel writing because it's complete expression of you. You just control everything. Not even a movie director has that level of control.

I think I'm fascinated by the power of religion in our culture. Like a lot of secular, liberal people, I ignored it for a long time. Lately, of course, just from a political perspective, it's impossible to ignore.

As for writing about temptation, there's no drama without temptation, and no novel without drama.

I used to describe myself as a comic novelist, but my concerns seem to have darkened over the past few years.