Okay, so maybe I'm romantic... but somebody is supposed to be romantic. Some warrior is supposed to go to war against the imperial forces of cynicism and irony. I am a sentimental soldier.

I guess a witness is all I am. I think as a writer, you're pretty removed. Writing is a very selfish, individualistic pursuit. So in that sense I'm a witness because I'm not participating.

I write less about alcohol, less and less and less. You 're an addict - so of course you write about the thing you love most. I loved alcohol the most, loved it more than anybody or anything. That's what I wrote about. And it certainly accounted for some great writing. But it accounted for two or three years of good writing - it would never account for 20 years of good writing. I would have turned into Charles Bukowski. He wrote 10,000 poems and 10 of them were great.

I felt so conflicted about having fled the rez as a kid that I created a whole literary career that left me there.

Estranged from the tribe that gives no protection, What happens to the soul that hates its reflection?

I think I was born with a suitcase.

I suddenly understood that if every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of a life should be taken seriously as well.