For me, every human is a little bit an exaggerated version of a real human - in most cases, they are versions of myself. I am someone deeply motivated by extremes - the poles not only become home for me,… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share Image
Addiction is a very compelling subject for literature - especially now that it's nearly impossible to come out of adult experience without some addiction… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
In South Pasadena, artists were around but invisible somehow. Even though it was just a fifteen-minute drive from Downtown LA, it felt worlds apart.… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
I both loved and hated South Pasadena. On the one hand, it was so diverse - all my closest friends were immigrants or had… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
There is less gray area there, less doubt. There is a security in being some thing all the way. Our culture, too, encourages this… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
The original Zal story by Ferdowsi gives a very moving account of an infant who had all odds against him - he was left… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
I write very raw, ugly, illiterate first drafts very quickly (novels are always in first draft in under a year) and then I spend… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
It [9/11 tragedy] has affected us on so many levels: economically, morally, spiritually, ethically. It's been all over the place. A new American identity… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
The radical is simply being given more room in the mainstream. And I think young people - I'm talking about the very young millennials… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
My characters' addictions are what makes them a bit stylized or "grotesque" - not just in appearance but through what drives them. Addiction is… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
I wanted to literalize the surreal here. Those are my favorite kinds of stories. I love when Gabriel García Márquez does that, for instance… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
I love outsider stories. And I also like a lot of genre fiction, too. So I wanted to write a literary book that flirted… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
9/11 was just an enormous event in so many senses of the word - I mean, we are still in the "post-9/11 era" and… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
The Illusionist is the storyteller in so many ways. Symbols become his obsession. It's not simply about creating plot - one must also grapple… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
Being unique seems more desirable than ever. People are exhausted by clichés, by platitudes, by mass-produced realities, by what's been done and done and… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
I guess none of the sides of my hyphen are particularly subtle cultures. But perhaps there is also a sense that these characters are… — Porochista Khakpour Copy Share
