“He needed time to adjust to real life, where heroes and villains could not be told apart by their looks or their accents, where there were no last minute reversals of fortune.” — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
Historical novels, in particular, allow us to relive the past without the neatness of history, and with all the complexity of the present. — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
There is a insularity within American fiction even for adults. It's very tough for books in translation in the US. — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
I [read] "The Book of Unknown Americans," which is by a friend of mine, Cristina Henriquez, and is about two Latino, immigrant families who… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
The ones that were relevant while I wrote my book were books like "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, which is based on a historical fact,… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
“He needed time to adjust to real life, where heroes and villains could not be told apart by their looks or their accents, where… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
Every book leaves its mark on you. It might leave you hungry for that kind of book or you may be satiated, and you're… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
A name is precious; it carries inside it a language, a history, a set of traditions, a particular way of looking at the world.… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
In some ways, I think it's the closest that we come to the truth — is in the form of fiction. — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
“His anger took many shapes: sometimes soft and familiar, like a round stone he had caressed for so long that is was perfectly smooth… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
When I was a child, I was reading books filled with people different from me, all French, all foreigners. There was a sense of… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
“It was a communion of pain, and no one in the city could pretend not to have heard it. The women had made witnesses… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
“know now that these conquerors, like many others before them, and no doubt like others after, gave speeches not to voice the truth, but… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
There are writers I return to no matter what I'm working on, writers like the South African J.M. Coetzee. He has an ability to… — Laila Lalami Copy Share Image
![“I [read] "The Book of Unknown Americans," which is by a friend of mine, Cristina Henriquez, and is about two Latino, immigrant families who live in Delaware. I'm interested in reading things from different perspectives.” quote by Laila Lalami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e50/laila-lalami-25030_book_i-read-the-book-of-unknown-americans-whi_138706.jpg)
