Anne Tyler

And I am interested in the fact that class is very much a factor in America, even though it's not supposed to be.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

For my own family, I would always choose the makeshift, surrogate family formed by various characters unrelated by blood.

I don't want to say I hear voices; well, actually I do hear voices, but I don't think it's supernatural. I think it's just that when characters are given enough texture and backbone, then lo and behold, they stand on their own.

I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely.

Time, in general, has always been a central obsession of mine - what it does to people, how it can constitute a plot all on its own. So naturally, I am interested in old age.

While armchair travelers dream of going places, traveling armchairs dream of staying put.