We all have a blind spot and it's shaped exactly like us.

I always individuate myself from other writers who say they would die if they couldn't write. For me, I'd die if I couldn't read.

I came up under [Ronald] Reagan and under [George] Bush, and what are we to do now? We are here to fight. People can run off all they want. But for me, [Donald] Trump is already in the Dominican Republic.

There's little question that short stories, like poetry, don't get the respect they deserve in the culture - but what can you do? Like Canute, one cannot fight the sea, you have to go with your love, and hope one day, things change.

You can't regret the life you didn't lead.

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.

As a Dominican man, you're socialized to be a playboy. You spend a lot of time being taught that women are important, but without the really positive framework of why. You figure out quickly it's because of culo (ass). But there is a sense that it's not that simple.