I'm too shy for personal appearances, and I've found out that anytime I talk about my writing, I can't do any writing for many weeks afterward.

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

I read so I can live more than one life in more than one place.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from.

It is not how much you love someone, but who you are when you are with him.

The Amateur Marriage grew out of the reflection that of all the opportunities to show differences in character, surely an unhappy marriage must be the richest.

It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

People always call it luck when you've acted more sensibly than they have.

The hardest novel to write was Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.

War must always be done out of sight, it shocks people and they stop immediately.

The waves are rough in a sea of adversity. Learning to swim in that setting provides you with one heck of an opportunity.

Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon

Immigration confuses and terrifies me, so why not try to write a comic and make some sense of it?

it is wiser to be conventionally immoral than unconventionally moral. It isn't the immorality they object to, but the originality.

This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!

It's not just songs and glamour. It's sweat, blood, broken toes, and mistakes... It's life.

America has two national budgets, one official, one unofficial.

Only stupid men trying to seem smart need to be with dumb women. Only weak men trying to look strong are attracted to compliant women.

Humor itself is a great disinfectant. It enables people to listen.