I was an only child. I've known only children. From this experience, I do believe that the children should outnumber the parents..

If there's anything Trollope novels always take seriously, it is money - how it flows from one character to another, how it is managed, who has it, w….

I spent part of my college years in a Marxist commune. I was not a Marxist. I wasn't even pretending to be one. I was a Marxist-in-law..

Somehow, knowing that Alzheimer's is coming mocks all one's aspirations - to tell stories, to think through certain issues as only a novel can do, to….

Many said that now there was no hope of salvation, for a man might do anything and be in the wrong. There was no way to tell. It was better to stay….

Sometimes, a novel is like a train: the first chapter is a comfortable seat in an attractive carriage, and the narrative speeds up. But there are oth….

Every novel deals with social problems. It can't help it because the protagonist must come in conflict with his group. So the author has to offer an ….

In his 30 years of broadcasting and publishing fiction, Garrison Keillor has set the laugh bar pretty high..

Good intentions are wicked! As far as I can see, all they lead to are lies and delusions..

People with good intentions never give up!.

The novel as a form is usually seen to be moral if its readers consider freedom, individuality, democracy, privacy, social connection, tolerance and ….

Why are we reading a Shakespeare play or 'Huckleberry Finn?' Well, because these works are great, but they also tell us something about the times in ….

When people leave, they always seem to scoop themselves out of you..

Novelists never have to footnote..

Your sons weren't made to like you. That's what grandchildren are for..

How will you know a good farmer when you meet him? He will not ask you for any favors..

My mom was paranoid about my safety..

'Ape House' is an ambitious novel in several ways, for which it is to be admired, and it is certainly an easy read, but because Gruen is not quite pr….

The fact is that the same sequence of days can arrange themselves into a number of different stories..

When I came home for the summer after my first year of college, I told my mother that my best friend and I were driving to California. She laughed ou….

One of the things that Ivar knew about Mrs. Walker was that she would only tell him what she knew if he asked the right question, so he spent a porti….