“The curious thing about individuals is that their singularity always goes beyond any category or generalization in the book.”

“You have made some notes, read some writing books, and done some research. Mostly what you've done is talk about writing a book. An idea for a book is not a book; it is a waste of time. There is no singular thing that makes someone a writer, but there is one thing that makes someone a joke--talking about writing a book without doing any work.”

“Happiness. It comes onunexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,any early morning talk about it.”

“It is a curious sensation: the sort of pain that goes mercifully beyond our powers of feeling. When your heart is broken, your boats are burned: nothing matters any more. It is the end of happiness and the beginning of peace.”

“The book is a body and your mind will mold to its individual curves much in the way it will to any other lover-- at least, until it buckles beyond us.”

“It is only through fiction and the dimension of the imaginary that we can learn something real about individual experience. Any other approach is bound to be general and abstract.”