... don't ever underestimate people, don't ever underestimate the pleasure they receive from viewing pain that is not their own... Pain by itself is just Pain. But Pain + Distance can = entertainment, voyeurism, human interest, cinéma vérité, a good belly chuckle, a sympathetic smile, a raised eyebrow, disguised contempt.

The past is always tense, the future perfect.

Most of the cruelty in the world is just misplaced energy.

I never attended a creative writing class in my life. I have a horror of them.

I'm always interested in the way people speak and move in their environment, in a very particular environment. I'm never interested in writing a kind of neutral, universal novel that could be set anywhere. To me, the any novel is a local thing always.

The library was the place I went to find out what there was to know. It was absolutely essential.

Under every friendship there is a difficult sentence that must be said, in order that the friendship can be survived.