Come to think of it, just about every tool was shaped like either a weenie or a pistol, depending on your point of view.

I do my best work if I think about what it is I have to offer.

Readers of fiction read, I think, for a deeper embrace of the world, of reality. And that's brave. I never get over being thankful for that - for the courage of my readers.

I think the most interesting parts of human experience might be the sparks that come from that sort of chipping flint of cultures rubbing against each other.

As a biologist, I can't think of myself as anything but an animal among animals and plant.

I never think that anything I'm writing is bluntly political in any way. I'm not going for commentary.