The anti-immigrant logic has basically saturated our world. I'm staying, and I'm fighting.

In my mind what novels do best is that they immerse us deeply into our character's world - they truly transport us deep into these spaces - but the same way you know a Hollywood movie won't end after thirty minutes, you carry in yourself the implicit contract that the novel won't throw you out of itself 'til the very end. That bulk of pages is a form of consolation, of security.

What a surprise (we all know how tolerant the tolerant are).

I think that distance is good for some people for certain projects. I mean this is sort of a dynamic question. Some projects require more distance than others, some don't require it at all. Sometimes you need it and sometimes you don't.

Tell her that you love her hair, that you love her skin, her lips, because, in truth, you love them more than you love your own.

[Donald] Trump is taking America's dirty laundry to the center stage. Everything he does, the rest of the country already does really well: victimize immigrants, poor people, women.

Of course we all know that's not how life works. The novel that is our life can end at any time. Sometimes even on page one.