My big struggle is how people can not care, erase, not remember.

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

If you live in the same small place long enough, something you don't like is bound to happen

I usually write about ordinary people and ordinary things, but Paul Farmer is the least ordinary person I've ever met... He's the leader of a small group of people who hope to cure a sick world, and I hope my book can help in some small way.

I want my prose to be as clear as a pane of glass.

I tell beginning readers to read a lot and write a lot. If you want to write a book, find a subject that's really worth the time and effort you'll put in.

When writers stop believing in their own stories, readers tend to sense it.