Some writers can produce marvelous plots without planning it out, but I can't. In particular I need to know the structure of a novel: what's going to happen in each chapter and each scene.

You know the way there are two kinds of actors - the De Niro kind who's always De Niro, and then somebody like Daniel Day-Lewis, who transforms himself eerily? Well, I aim to be the Daniel Day-Lewis kind of writer. I don't have a house style.

You cannot predict literary success; the only way you can possibly aim for it is to do your thing and do it well.

I'm not at all snobby about book prizes and how they pollute the world of literature. Just like with the Olympics, a little bit of competition gets people truly engrossed in the business of literature.

We all want our children to be the best they can be; and one of the blessings of having an autistic child is that you notice every little achievement, and it becomes cause for celebration.

Roxanne Quimby wanted money and power, and I was just a pillar on the way to that success.

I used to think that success was being the number one, being everywhere, being the star, and nowadays, I think that success is to make big things happen.

No real-world human being brings to the U.S. presidency the range of attributes necessary for full success in the job.