I can't pretend that I did one really awful thing - I took a bite out of the apple but now I'm never going to sin again.

My father combined many of the elements that were feared in the culture, but also he was a warm figure, a figure we needed. We depended on him to give us a little bit of strength and courage.

I get off on anticipating and waiting much more than I get off on the actual event.

I don't tell everything. I want the reader to have the feeling that maybe they know the whole truth, but they don't.

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.

Even in my adult years, when I heard a white person speaking in a Southern accent I was initially suspicious.

That split is inside all Americans. There are contradictions inside all of us about color and race. We've learned to cover them up and live with them and pretend that deep cleavage is not there. We all bear that illness.