'God is an iron,' I said. 'Did you know that?' I turned to look at her and she was staring. She laughed experimentally, stopped when I failed to join in. 'And I'm a pair of pants with a hole scorched through the ass?' 'If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron.'

I've tried it with men and women and boys and girls, in the dark and in the desert sun, with people I cared for and people I didn't give a damn about, and I ha…

Man has historically devoted much more subtle and ingenious thought to inflicting cruelty than to giving others pleasure - which, given his gregarious nature, …

I wanted to understand.