Only World War II, which mobilized 10 million draftees, could by any stretch of the imagination be called a people's war.

I’ve always thought a novelist only has one character and that is himself or herself.

The narrative was too constricted; it was like a fetus strangling on its own umbilical cord.

Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe.

Violence is the way stupid people try to level the playing field.

The world is divided up into two kinds of people - those who look at their body waste in the toilet bowl, and those who don't.

I started all over again on page 1, circling the 262 pages like a vulture looking for live flesh to scavenge.

The professional guts a book through - in full knowledge that what he is doing is not very good. Not to work is to exhibit a failure of nerve.

There are two types of people ... the scrutinizers and the scrutinized

The point of a notebook is to jumpstart the mind.

Novels do take charge of the writer, and the writer is basically a kind of sheepdog just trying to keep things on track.

A wise woman invests her time and doesn’t squander it in gossip, judgment or idleness. She knows every moment gone is one that she will not get back.

If you lock me in the room with a piano teacher for a year I might be able to knock out a rendition of 'Roll Out The Barrel,' but will I ever be a concert pianist? No.

I'm not naturally manipulative.

But to me what seems to be missing in a lot of portfolios is Cartooning.

I've never encountered someone in public life who has less desire to hold office than Michelle Obama, though she is incredibly gifted at retail politics.

One Sallow does not make Summer.

I try to use all of my senses when describing a setting, and try to think of everything that would impact a character in any given scene.

The government never does anything successfully.

My dad has always taught me these words: care and share.

I've matured a lot as a pitcher. I understand what my strengths are. I've learned that I've got a great sinker, I get a lot of ground balls, and it's easy to get a ground-ball double play.