Behind the story I tell is the one I don't...Behind the story you hear is the one I wish I could make you hear.

And while it is true that I got the best woman in the world, I don't think love saves you.

Don't go taking that gospel stuff seriously. It's nice to clean you out now and then, but it ain't for real. It's like bad whiskey. Run through you fast and leave you with pain.

Gravy is the simplest, tastiest, most memory-laden dish I know how to make: a little flour, salt and pepper, crispy bits of whatever meat anchored the meal, a couple of cups of water or milk and slow stirring to break up lumps.

Fiction is a piece of truth that turns lies to meaning.

He never said "Don't tell your mama." He never had to say it. I did not know how to tell anyone what I felt, what scared me and shamed me... (109)

Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is the way you can both hate and love something you are not sure you understand.