“To be in New York on a beautiful day is to feel razor close to being in love.”

“New York is a nice place.""If you like concrete, crowds, and that claustrophobic, closed-in feeling.”

“But I so want to walk that razor's edge,Take feeling to a whole new level.”

“I loved having a dad who was smarter than the New York Times, and I loved how my cheek could feel the hairs on his chest through his T-shirt, and how he always smelled like shaving, even at the end of the day. Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn't have to invent a thing.”

“Being close but feeling far, talking but not being heard, loving but not being loved, that is the painful reality of a dying relationship.”

“My advice for aspiring writers is go to New York. And if you can’t go to New York, go to the place that represents New York to you, where the standards for writing are high, there are other people who share your dreams, and where you can talk, talk, talk about your interests. Writing books begins in talking about it, like most human projects, and in being close to those who have already done what you propose to do.”