“And perhaps the only way to grant any justice—were that even possible—is by hearing and recording those stories over and over again so that they come back, always, to haunt and shame us. Because being aware of what is happening… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“Because being aware of what is happening in our era and choosing to do nothing about it has become unacceptable. Because we cannot allow ourselves to go on normalizing horror and violence. Because we can all be held accountable if… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“Some compare La Bestia to a demon, others to a kind of vacuum that sucks distracted riders down into its metal entrails. And when… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“He fell into a solemn silence, which he only eventually broke to say, “I think I’ve become a terrible person. In fact, I’ve become… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
I learned to keep at a certain distance from things - and to make myself a little bit invisible while I observed and understood… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“Writer and former Border Patrol officer Francisco Cantú has written poignantly about these death maps and all the “clearly marked ghosts” that dot the… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“Because—how do you explain that it is never inspiration that drives you to tell a story, but rather a combination of anger and clarity?… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
Writers tend to think they occupy a much more relevant place in society than we actually do. But we really are closer to buffoons… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“Everyone says they're empty. Everyone says – vast and flat. Everyone – mesmerizing. Nabokov probably said somewhere – indomitable. But no one had ever… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
I like reading the world through a writer's eyes, rather than seeing a writer looking at him or herself as if at the center… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“I know I need to generate a structure full of holes so that I can always find a place for myself on the page,… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
Cities have often been compared to language: you can read a city, it's said, as you read a book. But the metaphor can be… — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
“Perhaps it's right that words contain nothing, or almost nothing. That their content is, at the very least, variable.” — Valeria Luiselli Copy Share Image
