I'm very attracted to exile literature - particularly Nabokov - exactly because the idea of being away from home for any serious length of time is so inconceivable to me.

Work on a computer that is disconnected from the ­internet.

The choices a writer makes within a tradition - preferring Milton to Moliere, caring for Barth over Barthelme - constitute some of the most personal information we can have about him.

It was a kiss from the past.

Novels are not about expressing yourself, they're about something beautiful, funny, clever and organic. Self-expression ? Go and ring a bell in a yard if you want to express yourself.

For ridding oneself of faith is like boiling seawater to retrieve the salt--something is gained but something is lost.

Nowadays, I know the true reason I read is to feel less alone, to make a connection with a consciousness other than my own.