My dad fought in Korea. It was one of the first stories I remember hearing about.

Don't write about trying to change the world, just write about a changed world or a world that's not changing. Let that do the work.

I try to be accommodating, but I'm pretty much a loner.

If I'm in LA, I'm close to home, and that just brings up all these other things, good and bad. There is a reason why I am not there. That's what I have to remind myself of. But I'm healthier in California, probably a little happier, maybe. I forget how beautiful and calm California is. It's not so much about the place, but also the age that I came to the place and, well, other things. New York is hard.

I'm very fortunate. I'm not much of a self-promoter or anything.

There are always so many things happening [to us] at one time. We read Isherwood's A Single Man in class, and we had to ask: How is he talking about all this stuff: teaching, being lonely, all his memories, all at the same time? He's telling us: This is where my head is at, let me be straightforward. And of course, try be artful about it.

The Sellout is about friends and relatives who have touched me in real ways.