I finished 'America America,' and I knew I had to write another book, not just for personal reasons but because I had a contract.

When I write, I can become this ecstatic, crazy fellow, hearing the voices and just loosening up and letting them grow.

In medical school, you're taught to write in this convoluted, Latinate way. I knew the vocabulary as well as anyone, but I would write kidney instead of nephric. I insisted on using English.

If you try to write a novel in L.A., you're a chump; everyone is speeding by, and you're driving a rickshaw.

I like to write about the moment of light in the hour of darkness.

It's nice when critics say 'Emperor of the Air' is an important book of stories.