It Was Hollow, My Triumph,

I Didn't Know It Was Possible To Be Successful As A Writer, So I Wasn't Afraid To Fail.

I've Written A Book About My Mother, And I Don't Remember Anyone Going To Antigua Or Calling Up My Mother And Verifying Her Life. There Is Something About This Book That Drives People Mad With The Autobiographical Question.

I'm Writing Out Of Desperation. I Felt Compelled To Write To Make Sense Of It To Myself - So I Don't End Up Saying Peculiar Things Like 'i'm Black And I'm Proud.' I Write So I Don't End Up As A Set Of Slogans And Clichés.

I Was A New Person Then, I Knew Things I Had Not Known Before, I Knew Things That You Can Know Only If You Have Been Through What I Had Just Been Through.

I Like To Be Depressing. I Feel It's My Duty To Make Everyone A Little Less Happy. You Know That Line In The Declaration Of Independence, "the Pursuit Of Happiness"? I've Come To Think That It Has No Meaning At All. You Cannot Pursue Happiness. And To Think That This Bad Little Sentence Has Determined Our Lives.