A Myth Is More Powerful

Contempt Mates Well With Pity.

Once I Unlocked The Mystery Of The Alphabet That Led To Words, A Multitude Of Words Connecting Me To The World, There Was No Stopping Me.

One Should Be Able To Return To The First Sentence Of A Novel And Find The Resonances Of The Entire Work.

Writers Are Voracious Readers. Once I Unlocked The Mystery Of The Alphabet That Led To Words, A Multitude Of Words Connecting Me To The World, There Was No Stopping Me. Everything Was Fair Game, From Louisa May Alcott To My Older Cousin's True Romance Magazines, From Lewis Carroll To The Backs Of Cereal Boxes. All Of This Fed Me, But It Took Certain Books To Make Me Grow. I Don't Want To Work Without A Sense Of Drama, Without Passion, Or Without Both Eyes Open To The World Around Me.

There Is A Problem In America. An Irish Or Polish American Can Write A Story And It's An American Story. When A Black American Writes A Story, It's Called A Black Story. I Take Exception To That. Every Artist Has Articulated To His Own Experience. The Problem Is That Some People Do Not See Blacks As Americans.