I Can't Trace Thematic Similarities Between Then

A Dentist Is Only Half The Doctor He Claims To Be.

Names Generate Meaning In A Short Amount Of Space — They Provoke Thoughts, Questions. That's Something I Like Doing. Of Course, You Have To Be Careful. Sometimes It Can Alienate The Reader, It Can Be Another Level Of Mediation, To Make A Character Carry The Great Burden Of A Metaphoric Name. The Character Can Be A Device Before He Or She Becomes A Person, And That Can Be A Bad Thing For A Writer Who Wants To Offer Up A Kind Of Emotional Proximity In The Work. It's A Constant Struggle, The Desire To Be Playful And The Desire To Communicate On Some Very Stark Emotional Level.

One Thing That I Discovered About Myself Is I Really Don't Like Traveling. I Feel Like It's A Terrible Personal Failing, But I Was So Satisfied To Arrive At The Conclusion.

We Were Fractious And Overpaid. Our Mornings Lacked Promise. At Least Those Of Us Who Smoked Had Something To Look Forward To At Ten-fifteen.

I Think One Of The Ways You Avoid Being Angry Is To Avoid Being Angry At The People In Power. They Might Do Crappy Things, And Piss You Off, And Make Bad Decisions, But They Shouldn't Be Hated Simply Because They're In Power. And I Thought It Was Important To Humanize Them If The Book Was Going To Be Even-handed To All The Different Ways You Encounter People At Work.