"Change, when it comes, cracks everything open."

"Two or three things I know for sure, and one is that I'd rather go naked than wear the coat the world has made for me."

"One of the strengths I derive from my class background is that I am accustomed to contempt."

"Class, race, sexuality, gender and all other categories by which we categorize and dismiss each other need to be excavated from the inside."

"Fiction is a piece of truth that turns lies to meaning."

"I think I would have died if there hadn't been the women's movement."

"I tell my students you have an absolute right to write about people you know and love. You do. But the kicker is you have a responsibility to make the characters large enough that you will not have sinned against them."

"When I was growing up, I always read horror books, while my sister read romance novels."