“I've seen a lot of the United States, having stayed in so many different cities and towns for work. It's such a strange and fascinating country, and instead of learning about it through a textbook, I would rather discover its history and traditions and institutions through fiction and nonfiction wri”

“It would be ugly to watch people poking sticks at a caged rat. It is uglier still to watch rats poking sticks at a caged person.”