I know the next best thing is often the very best.

There's lots of things you don't know. All kinds of strange things . . . mostly they happened before we were born: that makes them seem to me so much more real.

Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.

Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.

I'm scarcely an enfant!

Are there any writers on the literary scene whom I consider truly great? Yes: Truman Capote.

All writing, all art, is an act of faith. If one tries to contribute to human understanding, how can that be called decadent? It's like saying a declaration of love is an act of decadence. Any work of art, provide it springs from a sincere motivation to further understanding between people, is an act of faith and therefore is an act of love.