"For all I know, I am beginning with the ending. My page one can wind up a year later as page two hun..." — Philip Roth

I'm an Obama supporter. And if you're an Obama supporter, that means you had a hard time during the Bush years.

That's what you're looking for as a writer when you're working. You're looking for your own freedom. To lose your inhibition to delve deep into your memory and experiences and life and then to find the prose that will persuade the reader.

If I don't measure up as an American writer, at least leave me to my delusion.

The novelist's obsession, moment by moment, is with language: finding the right next word.