I always want to write something better than the last book.

I think if the writing comes too easily, it shows - it's usually hard to read.

The goofiness of radicals thinking they have to dress in Guatemalan peasant clothes. The poor don't want you to look like them. They want you to dress in a suit and go get them food and water. Comma.

I wrote a novel about the combat experiences I didn't have in Vietnam.

What interests me is trying to catch the reflection of the human being on the page. I'm interested in how ordinary people live their lives

Writing is revision. All prose responds to work.

...Attempts at imitation would put the emphasis where it didn't belong. The goal was to improve the lives of others, not oneself.