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.

People don't do right because of the fear of God or love of him. You do right because the world doesn't make sense if you don't.

And of course these days I feel like there is a nation of us - displaced southerners and children of the working class. We listen to Steve Earle, Mary J. Blige, and k.d. lang. We devour paperback novels and tell evil mean stories, value stubbornness above patience and a sense of humor more than a college education. We claim our heritage with a full appreciation of how often it has been disdained. And let me promise you, you do not want to make us angry.

I was born trash in a land where the people all believe themselves natural aristocrats.

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.

I fell into shame like a suicide throws herself into a river. (253)

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.