Somewhere, sometime I'd stopped expecting my father to father.

I was really surprised at the success of 'House of Sand and Fog,' because it is so awfully dark. Believe it or not, when writing it, I never had the word 'tragedy' in my head - I wasn't trying to write a dark book at all.

I wonder if politicians know less about the land, now that they campaign by air.

After the dead are buried, after the physical pain of grief has become a permanent wound in the soul, then comes the transcendent and common bond of human suffering, and with that comes forgiveness, and with forgiveness comes love.

The truth is life is full of joy and full of great sorrow, but you can't have one without the other.

I really think that if there's any one enemy to human creativity, especially creative writing, it's self-consciousness.

I think the writer's job is to paint the gray because no life is clearly defined.