Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies.

Delia picked at the raw sores of her conscience...Drunk or sober, Delia lived in the small town in her heart, ignoring the world in which all her love had turned to grief.

I wanted her to to go on talking and understand without me saying anything. I wanted her to love me enough to leave him, to pack us up and take us away from him, to kill him if need be. (107)

It's important to set challenges that you're not sure you're equal to.

I need you to do more than survive. As writers, as revolutionaries, tell the truth, your truth in your own way.

I'm still very blunt: If you want to be a writer, get a day job. The fact that I have actually been able to make a living at it is astonishing.

she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant