Writers Should Be Applauded For

People Don't Always Want To Be With People. It Gets Tiring.

I Always Wince A Little Bit When I Send Me To Each Of My New Books. I Wince At Submitting Myself To My Father's Judgment. But, Of Course, He's Such A Fond Father That He Always Writes Back, Saying It's The Greatest Thing Ever Written.

There Are Some Tales Not For Telling, Whether Because They Are Too Long, Too Precious, Too Laughable, Too Painful, Too Easy To Need Telling Or Too Hard To Explain. After All, After Years And Travels My Secrets Are All I Have Left To Chew On In The Night.

The Idea Was To Focus On The Primal Drama Of Parenthood: The Way From Moment To Moment You Swing From Comforter To Tormentor, Just As Kids Simultaneously Light Up Our Lives And Drive Us Nuts. I Was Trying To Capture That Strange, Bipolar Quality Of Parenthood. For All That Being A Parent Is Normal Statistically, It's Not Normal Psychologically. It Produces Some Of The Most Extreme Emotions You'll Ever Have.

People Are Locked Up In All Sorts Of Ways.