On classification:

“My goal is to be able to fill out one of those forms that asks Who are you? and be able to just put “Human being,” you know? None of this stuff really matters.”

“It would be nice if we redefined what we meant by “war story.” If you’re making $15,000-a-year living in a certain area of Portland, trying to make it with three kids and no husband, that’s a kind of war.”

On writing:

“You know, I discarded a lot of stuff before I handed it in. There are times I want to discard everything. That’s the process, painful as it is.”

“I started this book in late 1996, and I knew I wanted to deal with a really big guy who was sweet and innocent and kind, but I didn’t know who he was. It took me four years before he actually showed up.”

“When I write, I’m looking for the five or six dramatic points that can connect in some way to give the story its initial arc. Once the characters arrive, at least in fiction, it changes everything. It can change the entire landscape. But in terms of putting together that so-called braided narrative, I look for those dramatic points and the underlying message I’m trying to deliver, which is sort of the connective tissue that hits each of the dramatic points.”

On race:

“Racism today is in many ways reflective of the racism that was present in 1944; it’s no different from the racism that existed in 1844   or 1544, for that matter. It’s all the same kind of hate, whether it’s white versus black, Protestant versus Catholic, Muslim versus Jew. Hate has the same result, no matter who the participants are.”

“Often the subtext of questions I hear is: “How did she raise these black children in the black community?” Black, black, black…It’s almost like, “How did she raise these Martians?” The stereotypical image of what Black America was and is, as opposed to what it really is, are really two different things completely.”

“You can suspend a reader’s disbelief, but it’s very difficult to change their inward prejudices and stereotypical beliefs.”

On music:

“You can say things in music that you can’t say verbally or as a writer, and in some ways they have a deeper impact. Songs are in many ways the lighthouses of your life. They’re markers. You can remember the song you heard when you fell in love, the song that was out when you had your first car…”

On reading:

“How can we expect our society to grow and develop into the America we want it to be if bestselling books don’t take us anywhere? It’s not going to happen. We’re not going to grow as a society unless we’re reading books that deal with thought and reason and discourse, and take us places that help us grow.”

Read the interview here.

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