Books were king, but now movies are king and books are sort of ignored. So now there's no sense of a welcoming community where you live. So you search out your own little island.

Books were king, but now movies are king, and books are sort of ignored. So now there's no sense of a welcoming community where you live.

I can only remember two books from college that moved me: E.M. Forster's 'Howards End' and F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby.'

I think even great writers only write two books that you might like. When I think of my touchstone writers like Saul Bellow, I think of 'Henderson the Rain King.' With Don DeLillo, I think of 'Libra.'

I think one of the things that is essential for happiness in life, or at least for non-sadness, is producing something. I guess that's why I spend so much time and agony writing books. But working on carpentry is sort of like all the pleasure with none of the agony.

Medicine is a supremely useful profession. Fiction writing is not.