For Catholics before Vatican II, the land of the free was pre-eminently the land of Sister Says-except, of course, for Sister, for whom it was the land of Father Says.

Every writer is a writer of the generation before.

Suicide is about life, being in fact the sincerest form of criticism life gets.

Mr Michener, as timeless as a stack of 'National Geographics,' is the ultimate Summer Writer. Just as one goes back to the cottage in Maine, so one goes back to one's Michener.

I picked up the writing on the very day he died. It was the only consolation I could find.

Books about suicide make lousy gifts.

The town is as full as ever of 'characters,' all created by each other.