On the character of Douglas, whose unexpected death brings the friends together
"Douglas is one of these characters who turns up who has what you might call limited charisma, or charisma limited to a particular circle of people, but with ambitions for it to be broader. ... Ned and the others, too, in each of their own ways, were susceptible to the antic opposition persona presented.
"... [They'd] fallen under a spell and gotten with a kind of unstated program, an oppositional program, opposition to the culture."
On Ned's wife, Nina, who is trying to get Ned to have a baby with her
"The problem for Nina with Ned is that he's been brought along to the point of being willing to do it. But she wants him to want to do it, and that means embracing the possibility of the child living in a decent world, a happier world, a better world, a world that would be [nurturing] and decent. ... He's struggling with the feeling."
Read an excerpt of Subtle Bodies