I had the feeling I was going to be successful, and I didn't want to be another disappointing Indian.

And believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of God.

I ain't interested in the truth. I'm interested in the way things should be.

In a real-world way, my gifts are very limited in terms of what I can do.

she braided my sister's hair with hands that smelled deep roots buried in the earth she told me the old stories how time never mattered when she died they gave me her clock

What's the difference between bulimics and anorexics?" I ask. "Anorexics are anorexics all the time," she says, "I'm only bulimic when I'm throwing up." Wow. She sounds just like my dad! "I'm only an alcoholic when I get drunk." There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away. Penelope gorges on her pain and then throws it up and flushes it away. My dad drinks his pain away. (107)

Don't live up to your stereotypes.