I didn't know it was possible to be successful as a writer, so I wasn't afraid to fail.

I've come to see that I'm saying something that people generally do not want to hear.

A tourist is an ugly human being.

I loved Charlotte Bronte when I was little, and I wanted to be Charlotte Bronte the way people want to be a princess.

It is sad that unless you are born a god, your life,from its very beginning, is a mystery to you.

In my writing I'm trying to explore the violations people commit upon each other.

It's very funny, American society: White culture can do all sorts of things and get away with it, but the minute a black person does it, it's interpreted in some way.