I never really had novel-writing instruction like people do in MFA programs.

Yale's endowment became a metaphor for the kind of training it offered its graduates, namely, how to exploit the global marketplace, and technology, for your own interests, while maintaining a smokescreen of virtuous intent.

I had observed people whose identity crises around race seemed analogous to other people's identity crises around gender.

There's an enormous difference between normative white masculinity and normative black masculinity.

Not unlike gender reassignment surgery, someone determines that they are of a different race on the inside and they wish to surgically correct that.

I had a lot of expectations placed on me because I was already having some success with my short stories. That was not a good situation to be in. That by itself took a long time to overcome.

I never really had novel-writing instruction like people do in MFA programs.