I’m definitely a chipper. I like the idea that the most perfect form of the story already exists inside a writer, and it’s her daily work to crack it open, shard by shard.

I’d like to spend a few hours in a Gogol story—but also have a way to get out when I need to—like when the giant Nose is approaching.

“When I’m 37 years old, I won’t be bald. I won’t wear white robes with red intestines in the pocket.”

I was a bartender for the last five years. People tend to think that’s pretty interesting, but after a while it just gets depressing.

“The Insurrection Act of 1807 was enacted in silence. It has no legislative history.”

Why do you write? No one ever asks me this but I repeat this every morning while taking a walk in my neighborhood. I write to save nature and reduce animal suffering.