'Drown' was always a hybrid book. It's connected stories

'Drown' was always a hybrid book. It's connected stories - partially a story collection but

partially a novel. I always wanted the reader to decide which genre they thought the book belonged to more - story, novel, neither, both.
Junot Diaz

I don't think she is underappreciated, certainly not among writers, but Alice Munro is the classic underappreciated writer among readers. It is almost a cliche now to wonder why this living legend is not more widely read.
Khaled Hosseini

Obviously, losing a parent is very difficult. I miss my dad every day, but I know he would be proud to see me continuing to swim and going for another shot at the Olympics.
Eric Shanteau

My weakness is 'American Idol.' My husband thinks it's ridiculous. But I am so inspired by those young people who are singing their guts out.
Mary Gordon

We started focusing on this in earnest late summer and early fall. I can build more power plants. In the 12 years before us, not a single plant of major consequence was built.
Gray Davis

I want to communicate through my music. If you want to know Geri Halliwell listen to my album: it tells you more about me than a documentary ever could.
Geri Halliwell

It is also very engaging - and a delight - to go back to Bangladesh as often as I can, which is not only my old home, but also where some of my closest friends and collaborators live and work.
Amartya Sen

The road Cordelia has travelled, the journey she has taken up to now has been such a joy to play as an actress, because there have been so many chances to do so many different emotions.
Charisma Carpenter

Using a dog as a narrator has limitations and it has advantages. The limitations are that a dog cannot speak. A dog has no thumbs. A dog can't communicate his thoughts except with gestures.
Garth Stein

Gemeoss

This battle for 'common-sense' gun control laws pits emotion and passion against logic and reason.

All too often in such a contest, logic loses. So, expect more meaningless, if not harmful, 'gun control' legislation. Good news - if you're a crook. Larry Elder I drive a lot. Just for pleasure. Sometimes I'll get in the Cadillac and drive around the city or the country, kind of trying to get lost basically. Y'know, just see where roads lead. Frank Black You and I will meet again, When we're least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again. Tom Petty We must dare to think 'unthinkable' thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. J. William Fulbright Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Mary Shelley Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such fr...

If you're poor, you don't often live near a good school. If it's a competitive

public school program, our kids are not prepared to enter those programs. Sonia Sotomayor I'm a middle-class, middle-brow novelist. And that's it. It amuses me. Anita Brookner I have always had a very natural connection to the water, and that connection stems from the ocean itself. Aaron Peirsol I got married at a very young age, and of course, for all the wrong reasons, and ended up divorced and lost everything. It was a very difficult time in my life. Willie Aames We have 11 great potato flavors, and customers have been clamoring for tortilla. For over a year, we worked to develop the four flavors of tortilla popchips: chili limon, nacho cheese, ranch and salsa. They're made with traditional stoneground masa, are gluten-free, and have less than half the fat of other chips. Keith Belling I never won anything by myself. I was always strong because of help that gave me extra strength to win. Dan Gable There's a toxicity within gaming culture, and also i...

A high nutrient density diet was associated with more feelings of hunger in the mouth

and throat and less in the head and stomach. Joel Fuhrman I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be. Joyce Meyer When a car's ahead of you, as long as you can see it, you get a tow, just like the draft in NASCAR. Even if it's a long ways down the track, it punches a hole in the air that has to help. When you're running alone, you can feel the difference, and it shows on the clock, too. Mario Andretti The United States created the best popular songs that were ever written, and from the 1920s to the 1940s, it was a renaissance period. It stopped in 1950. Tony Bennett The film I like the best is always the one I'm working on now or next. Ewan McGregor When I have a little down time, I like to go to the gym and try to bank some hours there. I like to spend time with my dogs, go hiking, do a little traveling. Emmanuelle Vaugier When I was in Mexico and started to dream in Spanish, I knew that was a good sign that I was learn...

With hacky sack, somebody brought one to recess in sixth grade and it kind of

all went downhill from there! The same with the yoyo's! One kid brought a yoyo one day and people started getting them. I just kept at it and found that I really loved it. Jason Dolley Shooting movies has changed, and me too - I have changed. And then, every film I do, something in my mind, my soul, changes. My natural change, I change at the same time as the films, I think. Dario Argento It's different as a guest as opposed to being a star of a series. A guest star is a whole different responsibility. It's much different than being a regular. You come in, and it's a lot of unfamiliar faces, and you want to try to fit in as best you can, but also you want to stay there without making waves. Donnie Wahlberg I like to focus on making the music sound simple and true, and very lush and full. I think music should take you to somewhere else where you have the space to contemplate or exercise your imagination. All the while you should be feeling real good, like when y...

The future of the television industry is changing at an unstoppable rate, and it is

exciting to share my experience and thoughts on how this will change the value of content in the digital space. Dana Brunetti I did a pilot for Fox years ago called 'Faceless,' with Sean Bean. I always thought it was such a cool show because it was really raw. I thought we were pushing it. This was back at a time before there was the 'cable standard.' Joe Carnahan I wear two hats. The one is business and increasing my shareholders' value; the other is social responsibility. Guler Sabanci Analysis of soil, grave goods and skeletons has been key to our understanding of archaeology and the migration of peoples, as well as their daily lives. But in mainstream history, we tend to stick to documents. Kate Williams If the nation is rich but people are poor, the country cannot be strong, and society will be unstable. Zong Qinghou I was undeterred by the danger of traveling as a single American woman through Taliban-governed land. I believed in the stories I w...

I studied journalism at university, and I started a little bit of work on a

woman's magazine called Minx that was aimed at 18- to 24-year-olds. Rhianna Pratchett I said that if I were an industrialist or entrepreneur, I would invest in agriculture-based enterprises, for there is so much that can be done in manufacturing, in food preservation. F. Sionil Jose Christ hath instituted Baptism as a bath, to wash away the anger, and hath put into us the Noble Stone, viz. the water of eternal life, for an earnest-penny, so that instantly in our childhood we might be able to escape the wrath. Jakob Bohme In my very early days as a journalist, as a cub reporter on a local newspaper, I used to cover the district courthouse in Limerick city - all human life passed through that establishment, and my time there remains a source of inspiration. Kevin Barry If Christians see Mormonism as a dramatic deviation from a millennia-old, biblically-based faith, Jews see Christianity in the same light. Meir Soloveichik My mother was a high-strung perfectionist. She ...

I have never really believed that acting is very difficult. I think some people have

a skill and are able to act, and if you have that natural gift, it's not difficult. Mark Strickson I don't think that a vote for Barack Obama is a symbolic thing. I think it's much more than that. It's not just a black man. It's not just a feel-good vote. It's the idea of electing someone who really does want to make a difference. Aunjanue Ellis Magicians from the nineteenth century threw cards distances, but I think I'm the first one who made a thing about using them as weapons. Ricky Jay A lot of people do that kind of nostalgia stuff believing that they were very happy in their teenage years, but that's probably just an illusion. Jo Brand Kid's culture is often dismissed as superficial, like high fibre McDonald's, but it's so much more important than that. Morris Gleitzman Who needs one more chef in one more building with four walls and a kitchen? Jose Andres We know we cannot achieve our twin goals of ending poverty and ...

My hunch is that people often affiliate with causes online for selfish and narcissistic purposes.

Sometimes, it may be as simple as trying to impress their online friends, and once you have fashioned that identity, there is very little reason to actually do anything else. Evgeny Morozov The App Store has democratized the creation of content. As a 12-year-old kid, I was able to put my application on the store. No one knows who's behind the screen so you can't tell I'm a 12-year-old. Nick D'Aloisio It is one of the more striking generalizations of biochemistry - which surprisingly is hardly ever mentioned in the biochemical textbooks - that the twenty amino acids and the four bases, are, with minor reservations, the same throughout Nature. Francis Crick Why is it that our young kids all across America can solve the most complex problems in a video game involving executive decision making and analytical thinking, yet we accept the fact that they can't add or read? Naveen Jain I care so passionately about improving the quality of life for women and girls...

I would say that as I've gotten older, I trust my intuition more; I allow

myself more freedom both musically, creatively and my own life existentially. Matisyahu If instantaneity is what we want, television cannot compete with cyberspace. James Gleick It's a voluntary act. I cannot punish anyone not taking the public transport, but I want everyone, from the highest ranking officers to the lowest, to take public transport every Wednesday. Veerappa Moily I'm always drawn to stories that people don't know about, particularly when they're inside of a story that everyone knows about. Robert Redford I actually don't have a single regret, professionally or domestically. I planned it that way. Dan Jenkins When you meet the farmers and go to the farms, you see that they treat their animals like they're family. It makes a big difference. David Chang It's funny, because when I went down to the combine for the interviews with teams, Charles Haley is the name that came up a lot as a comparison to the way I play. A lot of peop...

Years ago, when I first started being a big star, I had fans that were

fanatical. It was when 'Jolene' was a big hit. Dolly Parton Books externalise our brains and turn our homes into thinking bodies. John Updike For me, the source material can come from anywhere. It can be a poem, it can be a dream, it can be a movie, as long as the end part of it is interesting - that's what it's about for me. Baltasar Kormakur Netscape was able to get the government working on its behalf. Bill Gates Political novels are full of pitfalls, particularly for a novelist with strong political leanings. Phil Klay I don't say I was 'proceeding down a thoroughfare;' I say I 'walked down the road'. I don't say I 'passed a hallowed institute of learning;' I say I 'passed a school'. Maeve Binchy What you do by having an income tax rate reduction across the board, you really provide great incentives for people to work, produce, and increase output. So I would support a carbon tax in replacement for a progres...