Bogotá seemed a cruel towering place, like an eagles' nest now inhabited by vultures and their dying prey.

The biggest surprise was that a country like Angola, that has so much money, that produces so much oil, would be in such a mess and so difficult to travel in. Something is almost cursed in striking oil. It's like the lottery winner who ends up broke.

I always found myself in the company of Australians, who were like a reminder that I'd touched bottom.

Extensive traveling induces a feeling of encapsulation, and travel, so broadening at first, contracts the mind.

My greatest inspiration is memory.

One of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading it, you have made the book yours.

The Japanese have perfected good manners and made them indistinguishable from rudeness.