"When I started writing, my expectations were very low. In this country, choosing to be a short story writer or poet is basically equivalent to letting yourself live in the shadow, and no one will notice. "
"When the children were very young, we had no money. We were so tired from work that we vomited blood. My wife and I did our best, but life didn't make any progress. At that time, I had been doing one bullshit job after another. So is my wife. She works as a waitress or sells things door to door. Many years later, she finally taught in high school, but that was many years later. I've worked in sawmills, gas stations, warehouses, janitors and deliverymen-you name it, I've done it. One summer in California, I picked tulips for others during the day to support my family. After the hotel closed at night, I cleaned a drive-in restaurant and the parking lot. There are more important things than writing novels and poems. It pains me to understand this, but I can only accept it. I have to put milk and food on the table and pay the rent. If I have to make a choice, I can only choose to give up writing. "
"When henry miller was writing the Tropic of Cancer in his forties, he once said that he would write in a borrowed room and might stop writing at any time, because the chair he was sitting in might be taken away by others. Until recently, this state has been the norm in my life. As long as I can remember, since I was a teenager, I have been worried that the chair under me will be removed at any time. Year after year, my wife and I ran around all day trying to keep our roof. We have a dream, me and my lover. We thought we could stretch our necks, work hard and do anything we wanted. But we were wrong. "