“If you're still wondering about details - how am I going to get these ...” — John Irving Quote

“If you're still wondering about details - how am I going to get these two to meet, or whatever - when you're writing, you can't pay proper attention to the sentences themselves.”

“You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior to my critics for the simple reason that they haven't done what I do. Most book reviewers haven't written 11 novels. Many of them haven't written one.”

“It's not very interesting to establish sympathy for people who, on the surface, are instantly sympathetic. I guess I'm always attracted to people who, if their lives were headlines in a newspaper, you might not be very sympathetic about them.”

“On the Internet you can swap GPS details and use tools like Google Maps. It's amazing.”

“I was worried that one day, 40 years from now, I would look back and wouldn't be able to remember the details of my life, so I've written them all down.”

“Podcasting is a personal medium, and I savour those moments where details of the podcasters' lives glint through.”