I was, in my own eyes, a veritable James Bond — only younger, darker, and possibly better paid.

The gun of the father is always the undoing of the son.

A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in their own imagination because it's still me whether I'm bearded or not.

NYC doesn't have a big sign saying "You must love diversity and the rights of all people." And that's not what makes you love diversity in NYC or anywhere. What makes you love diversity is because you live in it and you experience it.

In a subway car, my skin would typically fall in the middle of the color spectrum. On street corners, tourists would ask me for directions. I was, in four and a half years, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker.

I am not much of a researcher as a novelist; I write mainly from experience.

Why the brevity? Because I'd rather people read my book twice than only half-way through