“We'd just shared the last beer and slung the empty can out the window at a stop sign and were just waiting back to get the feel of the day, swimming in that kind of tasty drowsiness that comes over...”

“But he wont let the pain blot out the humor no moren hell let the humor blot out the pain.”

“They can't tell so much about you if you got your eyes closed.”

“It's the truth, even if it didn't happen......if they don't exist, how can a man see them?”

“I been silent so long now its gonna roar out of me like floodwaters and you think the guy telling this is ranting and raving my God; you think this is too horrible to have really happened, this is ...”

“I don't seem able to get it straight in my mind....”

“I am a person before I am anything else. I never say I am a writer. I never say I am an artist...I am a person who does those things.”

“The point, I decided, wasn't to have the autobiography or even the memories. The point was who I became when I wrote.”

“The willingness to reach inside every part of yourself opens the door to total understanding. You place your entire identity on the line, not just an isolated part. This may sound daunting, but act...”