When I'm writing, I'm thinking, "Well, this might be a book that I'll always be happy with, and certainly readers will be happy with." But another part of me knows that when I'm past the stage of writing, the book is gonna have good things about it, bad things about it - probably more bad than good. I just know that. That's who I am.

Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.

As a writer, you don't know what the hell you're doing. You're just doing it. You hope it works out well.

You have to be a minor superhero just to get to be a dignified man, and that's kind of exacerbated for men of color.

I really love James Joyce, Dubliners and other work. And I was interested in the way the dash was used in English topography - in his work particularly - and I realized there was no compulsion to use those ugly dot-dot curlicues all over the place to designate dialogue. I began to look around, and found writers who could make transitions quite clear by the language itself. I'm a bit of a maverick now. I'm always trying to push the medium.

I had a deep prejudice against the South. It's taken me many years to get over that, be more open and thoughtful.

I'm still divided in my principles and what I think is right and what I'm actually able to do, whether talking about writing or being a citizen or being a husband or being a father. And I'm trying to get better.