I think it's unfortunate to have critics for friends.

I think that one of the compelling themes of fiction is this confrontation between good and evil.

My life and work have been far from free of blemish, and so I think it would be unpardonable for a biographer not to dish up the dirt.

I think that the best of my generation...have reversed the customary rules of the game and have grown more radical as they have gotten older - a disconcerting but healthy sign. To be sure, there are many youngish old fogies around and even the most illustrious of these, William Buckley, is blessed by a puzzling, recondite but undeniable charm, almost as if beneath that patrician exterior an egalitarian was signaling to get out.