If You Work At Comedy

Bookstores, Like Libraries, Are The Physical Manifestation Of The Wide World's Longest, Most Thrilling Conversation.

Stories Worked Much The Same Way . . . A False Note At The Beginning Was Much More Costly Than One Nearer The End Because Early Errors Were Part Of The Foundation.

A Couple Years Ago, The Novelist Russell Banks Told Me He Was Reading The Ancient Greek Historian Herodotus. I Asked Why. He Said, 'because I've Always Wanted To And Am Tired Of Having My Reading Assigned.' I Thought It Was A Marvelous Declaration Of Independence.

My God, He Couldn't Help Thinking, How Terrible It Is To Be That Age, To Have Emotions So Near The Surface That The Slightest Turbulence Causes Them To Boil Over. That, Very Simply, Was What Adulthood Must Be All About -- Acquiring The Skill To Bury Things More Deeply. Out Of Sight And, Whenever Possible, Out Of Mind.

If There's An Enduring Theme In My Work, It's Probably The Effects Of Class On American Life.