When you read a piece of writing that you admire, send a note of thanks to the author.

My name is Sherman J. Alexie Jr., and I am an insomniac.

Every movie is a road movie. Every novel is a mystery. Every tortilla chip is sacred.

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.

Because I'm an American, I know there's all sorts of international folks who would gladly kidnap and behead me.

I got in a fight with my girlfriend," I said. "I was just driving around, blowing off steam, you know?" Well, you should be more careful where you drive," the officer said. "You're making people nervous. You don't fit the profile of the neighborhood." I wanted to tell him that I didn't fit the profile of the country but I knew it would just get me into trouble.

When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing. And so, laughing and crying, we said good-bye to my grandmother. And when we said goodbye to one grandmother, we said good-bye to all of them. Each funeral was a funeral for all of us. We lived and died together. All of us laughed when they lowered my grandmother into the ground. And all of us laughed when they covered her with dirt. And all of us laughed as we walked and drove and rode our way back to our lonely, lonely houses.