My parents banned nothing, though the Christian fundamentalists in my tribe held book-and-record burnings every now and again. So, yes, fundamentalist assholes can also be brown-skinned.

My school and my tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our parents studied from. That is absolutely the saddest thing in the world.

In the middle of a crazy and drunk life, you have to hang onto the good and sober moments tightly.

Like officer Dave.He's never said much about his life, but I can tell he's scarred. And he knows I'm scarred too. The wounded always recognize the wounded. We can smell each other.

Sometimes it's called passing out and sometimes it's just pretending to be asleep

I've learned that the worst thing a parent can do is ignore their children

He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.