"This is another book I read in high school when I could not have possibly understood it. I read the whole thing, too, all seven volumes of it. I don’t know who I was trying to impress. At the time, I felt very sophisticated in figuring out that Charlus was gay and the first thing I did when I went to Paris was to go to a bakery and eat a madeleine. I’m still determined to read Proust’s epic depiction of society again. The newest translation sits on my desk but I think I’ll stick with my old Moncrieff. I’ve had a date with it since high school."

"Oh, The Godfather. If it gets any better than that… I mean, it’s so beautifully shot. I’m not a fan of violent movies, but that one is such an epic film. The violence is part and parcel of the story they’re telling, so, it’s legitimate. In a weird way, I find there’s no gratuitous violence in it. Even though there’s a lot of shooting in that thing, every time there’s a shootout, I found it upsetting and horrifying as opposed to films which just trade on mowing human beings down. Those I find pornographic and not sad. I think it does damage to our society, personally."