“I think newspapers shouldn't try to compete directly with the Web, and should do what they can do better, which may be long-form journalism and using photos and art, and making connections with large-form graphics and really enhancing the tactile experience of paper.”
“I think almost every writer in the world would hope that books would be always talked about with respect and civility and depth and seriousness.”
“I met a lot of great people in Saudi Arabia and I'd like to see them again. And I'd love to spend more time in the desert and in the mountains. I felt really at home there.”
“The key thing is, even if you only have a couple of hours a month, those two hours shoulder-to-shoulder, next to one student, concentrated attention, shining this beam of light on their work, on their thoughts and their self-expression, is going to be absolutely transformative, because so many of the students have not had that ever before.”
“I've never had WiFi at home. I'm too easily distracted, and YouTube is too tempting.”
“People are strange, but more than that, they're good. They're good first, then strange.”
“But Saudi Arabia is surprising in a lot of ways. Like any place, or any people, it relentlessly defies easy categorization.”
“I publish my own books, so there isn't a certain editor I owe the book to at a publishing house.”
“I don't mean to beat a made-in-America drum, but I would be lying if I said it doesn't feel somehow right to be printing books in the U.S.”
“And what we were trying to offer every day was one-on-one attention. The goal was to have a one-to-one ratio with every one of these students.”