I always say that racism is like pneumonia and anti-Semitism is like the common cold—everybody has it. with The Paris Review (1992)
Writers often write about what they want to read or haven’t seen written. with The Paris Review (1992)
There’s hardly a woman writer who doesn’t receive some kind of support from the women’s movement. We’re very lucky to be living and writing now. with The Paris Review (1992)
Russian is very dear to me because it’s a family language, but I am Jewish-Russian, which is a little different from Russian-Russian. My family ran away in 1905 from the Russian-Russians. with The Paris Review (1992)
In 1959 it was absolutely insane for Ken McCormick to say, yes, he was going to publish a book of short stories. Now everybody in the writing world is reading and writing short stories. with The Paris Review (1992)