Roy Blount is so funny, and he sounds like he's just talking, and the next thing you know he has tossed off an essay as elegant and intricately structured as a birdsong. His ear for American speech is better than anybody's.

Sometimes travel is merely an opportunity taken when you can.

There's an idea of the Plains as the middle of nowhere, something to be contemptuous of. But it's really a heroic place.

Words are charms. It's like a song you didn't even know you knew.

I only saw one English-speaking person all the way across Siberia.

I think what is important for things to be funny is if you the listener, or the reader, get a chance to supply the humor of it yourself.

America can enjoy a vital, fully functioning government, with all the benefits provided by Texas, while reducing Texas at the same time.

Russians don't complain, usually.

Despite the obvious benefits, many Americans do not like Texas. Some even say they despise Texas, and make no secret of their feelings.

When the days start to get shorter, I want to be in some nice brick building on the East Coast with the lights glowing in the windows. When the daylight starts changing, I want to be out West.

Russian humor is to adapt or make some sense or nonsense out of the insanity of their lives.

I don't want to participate in traditional Indian religious ceremonies - dance in a sun dance or pray in a sweat lodge or go on a vision quest with the help of a medicine man. The power of these ceremonies has an appeal, but I'm content with what little religion I already have.

Leading economists have shown that by shrinking Texas, we can actually create more income for Texas in the long run.

Everything in Russia is made of cement - phone booths, fence posts and light bulbs.

A book tour is not a good opportunity to let your mind wander. You have to pay attention, remember salespeople's and interviewers' names, succinctly summarize your book in a 'selling' way, and so on.