Truth is a nebulous thing. There are certain, definite truths, but the truth of our lives goes far beyond facts.

A great literary work can be completely, completely unpredictable. Which can sometimes make them very hard to read, but it gives them a great originality.

My gratitude to him is as boundless as the Pacific ocean.

Fanatics do not have faith - they have belief. With faith you let go. You trust. Whereas with belief you cling.

Stories--individual stories, family stories, national stories--are what stitch together the disparate elements of human existence into a coherent whole. We are story animals.

My greatest wish - other than salvation - was to have a book.

Most people take who they are, naturally, as a given, and they're interested in the sexual other, but not in being the sexual other. Most men are interested in women - whether sexually or not is not the question - but they don't necessarily want to be a woman.