“For I too liked reading, thought of a frivolous and childish kind; I could not digest or comprehend the serious or substantial.”

“I don't believe in being serious about anything. I think life is too serious to be taken seriously."[Writer’s Digest Interview (Robert Jacobs, Writer’s Digest, February 1976)]”

“I have never looked to religion for comfort - belief is just not in my genes. But reading Mastering the Art of French Cooking - childishly simple and dauntingly complex, incantatory and comforting - I thought this was what prayer must feel like. Sustenance bound up with anticipation and want. Reading MtAoFC was like reading pornographic Bible verses.”

“One thing I don't like about crap: its size that is too big to be digested.”

“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.”

“Librarians are serious people, seldomgiven to idle jocularity. The reason for this, I believe, is because we are overwhelmed by the enormous number of good books waiting to be read, leaving little time for frivolity. My personal list of must-read books presents a daunting challenge; I can't even imagine the pressure our head librarian must be under.”