And because love, real love, is not so easily shed.

Run a hand through your hair, like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.

Shot at twenty-seven times - what a Dominican number.

I think that most of my writer friends are really compulsive. I think that's great. It's wonderful for them. It's just not my bag. It's not the way I work. But again, it's probably why my friend has ten books out and I have two.

I'm really into the rights of immigrants, the rights of the working poor. I'm one of those little activist types. I probably would have just gone to law school. And the scary part is that I was one of those kids who always tested really well. You put a test in front of me, and I would have been like do-do-do-do-do. I probably would have been some community lawyer somewhere - if anything, that's probably what I would have been doing.

Books are wonderful, but they aren't that powerful.

The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the art.