I am an old-fashioned storyteller. I try to make people laugh and cry. A fiction writer's duty is to entertain. If you can sneak in something profound or symbolic, so much the better.

Basketball is the worst sport. They need to raise the basket at least two feet.

[Mid-list writers are now] less greed on the part of both publishers and chain booksellers. It is easier for them to publish and sell only blockbusters and leave the real work to small presses.

The Great Gatsby, the finest novel ever written.

My dad talked a good game. [I'm as a] child got only the World Series on the radio.

He bats like a lightning rod.

Use your imagination. Trust me, your lives are not interesting. Don't write them down.