I Don't Really Distinguish Between Sympathy And

I Was A Garbage Man In New Jersey In Summers During College At Yale. Everybody Else Got To Go To Switzerland And I Got To Go To The Dump.

I Was An English Major In College, I Went To A Creative-writing Program, And All My Life, I Really Read And Thought About Fiction As A Craft And An Art Form. I Feel Like I Know A Lot About It, And Can Trust My Instincts.

My Mythic Version Of America Is Very Much About Parents And Children, And In My Experience, The Suburban Setting Is Where That Particular Drama Plays Out. Which Isn't To Say That There Aren't Parents And Children In Cities Or On Farms. I Just Don't Know Them.

Apparently Even The Most Awful Tragedies, And The People They'd Ruined, Got A Little Stale After A While.

He'd Never Had To Make The Adjustments And Compromises Other People Accepted Early In Their Romantic Careers; Never Had A Chance To Learn The Lesson That Sarah Taught Him Everyday--that Beauty Was Only A Part Of It, And Not Even The Most Important Part, That There Were Transactions Between People That Occurred On Some Mysterious Level Beneath The Skin, Or Maybe Even Beyond The Body.