Grief Is In Two Parts.

When I Grew Up, You Needed To Have Straight Hair. It's Symbolic Of Needing To Be Like Everyone Else, Needing To Look Like Everyone Else. And What That Meant Was Looking Like The Dominant Ruling Class In America.

I Don't Really Think It Comes As A Shock To Every Writer If Somebody In Their Family Is Mad At Them. Yes, It's Very Upsetting. But It's Inherent In The Process Of Trying To Make Sense Of One's Life, Which Is What I Think Is Perhaps At The Bottom Of Writing At All.

I Know That Family Life In America Is A Minefield, An Economic Trap For Women, A Study In Disappointment For Both Sexes.

Many Writers Do Write About Their Families And Their Immediate Loved Ones And Love Experiences, Either As Children Or As Adults. And Very Often People Get Offended By It.

I Think That Certainly The Artists Of The '40s, '50s And '60s Were Fighting A Very Conformist Society, Which Didn't Give Them Enough Space To Live Or Create, And They Were Bucking All Kinds Of Spoken And Unspoken Rules.