The smoke alarm went off in the hallway upstairs, either to let us know the battery had just died or because the house was on fire.

In a repressive society, a writer can be deeply influential, but in a society that's filled with glut and repetition and endless consumption, the act of terror may be the only meaningful act.

The modern meaning of life's end-when does it end? How does it end? How should it end? What is the value of life? How do we measure it?

I embarked on my life - I didn't do anything. I don't have an explanation.

Every sentence has a truth waiting at the end of it and the writer learns how to know it when he finally gets there.

I've always seen myself in sentences. I begin to recognize myself, word by word, as I work through a sentence.