I began teaching in New York because I needed to stay in the United States and didn't have my immigration papers in order, so working for a university was a way of resolving the issue.

I am very interested in what has been called bad taste. I believe the fear of displaying a soi-disant bad taste stops us from venturing into special cultural zones.

Writers are not meant for action.

Ironically, Latin American countries, in their instability, give writers and intellectuals the hope that they are needed.

I allow my intuition to lead my path.

I haven't been the kind of writer about whom book-length academic studies have been written.

I've always wondered why there isn't a great French novel about the German occupation. The nouveau roman authors weren't interested in telling that sort of thing.