Historical novels, in particular, allow us to relive the past without the neatness of history, and with all the complexity of the present.

Immigration, a lexicon. You're a 'migrant' when you're very poor; 'immigrant' when you're not so poor; and 'expat' when you're rich.

In some ways, I think it's the closest that we come to the truth — is in the form of fiction.

The universe had an odd sense of fairness; it took away things one did not want to give up, and then gave things one did not ask for.

A name is precious; it carries inside it a language, a history, a set of traditions, a particular way of looking at the world. Losing it meant losing my ties to all those things too.

Thing that was very different for me is that an American child's reading is filled with Americans.

No one wrote better about the sin of pride, the corruption of power and the redemption of love. I will miss you, Gabriel García Márquez.

There are writers I return to no matter what I'm working on, writers like the South African J.M. Coetzee. He has an ability to make you feel that he is writing for you alone.

I began reading in French. I didn't read in English until high school.

There is a insularity within American fiction even for adults. It's very tough for books in translation in the US.

I love James Baldwin essays, but also his novels. I recently read "Another Country." I couldn't believe how ahead of his time he was.

You must have a level of discontent to feel the urge to want to grow.

The most successful people in the most impossible situations are the ones that are sure they're gonna get out of it, and they go on thinking that, even if they die trying.

Home's where you go when you run out of homes.

Once more and for the last time, the moon flashed above and broke into pieces, and then everything went black.

Love is the power to see similarity in the dissimilar.

Once the season starts for me, there isn't a change in my focus, just a change in my tactics and strategies.

He can’t ground her if he’s already killed her,” I pointed out when Juliana quoted this to me. “Well, he can, but it wouldn’t have the same impact.

We cannot evangelize until we have been evangelized. This happens most powerfully through solitary prayer.

Following Christ is a daily thing, not just a one-time thing

For men in a state of freedom had thatch for their shelter, while slavery dwells beneath marble and gold.