“All religions have something to say about sex, and it rarely coincides with scientific knowledge of sex and sexuality.”

“Sex is hard to write about because you lose the universal and succumb to the particular. We all have our different favorites. Good sex is impossible to write about. Lawrence and Updike have given it their all, and the result is still uneasy and unsure. It may be that good sex is something fiction just can't do--like dreams. Most of the sex in my novels is absolutely disastrous. Sex can be funny, but not very sexy.”

“Why be uptight about bowel movements and sex? We all have sex. We all have penises -- except for those of us who have vaginas.”

“Couples who rarely or never have sex can know lifelong love.”

“I have no idea why this is. I’m sure somebody with a beard and too much time on their hands would say it has something to do with sex - but they’ll say that about anything.”

“If she did experience sex--or something close to it--in high school, I'm sure it would have been less out of sexual desire or love than literary curiosity.”