Is loss – of parents, childhood, innocence, health – an important theme in the book?
A. Yes, it’s about surviving loss. Without sounding too Pollyanna-ish, you find the worth of things by losing them. In the best of all possible worlds you discover the value and depth and greatness of something while you have it, but in reality I think you always gain by losing. Q. There is very little sex in the book, and certainly no explicit sex. Why? A. I would argue that nobody can actually be funny and erotic at the same time. They don’t really go together. When you’re being erotic, you’re creating a spell; when you’re making a joke, you’re breaking it. Q. What do you think happens to Jane after the book? A. I think she’ll have difficulties with the last guy she has a relationship with, and I don’t think she would marry him. She probably tries living with him. It’s probably the beginning of a different kind of hard – that it’s great to be with someone who wants you to be yourself, but the challenge is actually being yourself. The complicated relationship is always the one that yo
