One of the things novels should do is shine a light on those parts of us that are common, the fibres that connect all of us. They should convey the sense that we're all connected, coming from the same tree, sharing common roots.

Everyone is an ocean inside. Every individual walking the street. Everyone is a universe of thoughts, and insights, and feelings. But every person is crippled in his or her own way by our inability to truly present ourselves to the world.

I remember reading 'The Grapes of Wrath' in high school in 1983. My family had immigrated to the U.S. three years before, and I had spent the better part of the first two years learning English. John Steinbeck's book was the first book I read in English where I had an 'Aha!' moment, namely in the famed turtle chapter.

My memories of Kabul are vastly different than the way it is when I go there now. My memories are of the final years before everything changed. When I grew up in Kabul, it couldn't be mistaken for Beirut or Tehran, as it was still in a country that's essentially religious and conservative, but it was suprisingly progressive and liberal.

Theater is such its own living, breathing animal. You do a show every night, but it's different every night. Being on stage, you're experiencing a journey.

The truth of the matter is, when you're on 'Howard Stern,' you feel like you're in his living room talking to him, you don't feel like you're having an interview.

The idea that an author can extricate her or his own ongoing life experience from the tale being written is a conceit of very little worth.

The Karate Kid' was just lightning in a bottle. The second movie is a very worthy sequel, because you got to explore the Okinawan culture and learned about Miyagi's life. The third, as is always the case, was made because the second one made a lot of money.