I'm interested in the eternal soul. That's what I write about. — Luis Alberto Urrea About Copy Share Image
With a name like Luis Alberto Urrea, it's political no matter what I do. — Luis Alberto Urrea Like Copy Share Image
“The world looked to them like a great roll of butcher paper unfurled on a table.” — Luis Alberto Urrea Copy Share Image
I'm always trying to, using literature, subvert people's responses. — Luis Alberto Urrea Always Copy Share Image
I'm always fascinated by the disjunct between what's really happening on the ground and the propaganda machine that feeds America alarmist news… — Luis Alberto Urrea America Copy Share Image
It became really important to me if I was going to write 'Hummingbird's Daughter' to try to do honor to women. — Luis Alberto Urrea Daughter Copy Share Image
I've been told not to tour down in Mexico. I am too well-known now. The kidnappers may think that my publisher will… — Luis Alberto Urrea I am Copy Share Image
Writing went from being a calling to being a job. Business ruined things. It became like making sausages in a sausage factory. — Luis Alberto Urrea Being Copy Share Image
I am addicted to poetry, but the truth is I cannot pass up a good hard-boiled mystery. — Luis Alberto Urrea Addicted Copy Share Image
Way back when I was working at the dump, I saw that, even when living among the trash, that some people would… — Luis Alberto Urrea Decide Copy Share Image
The world was more than a place. Life was more than an event. It was all one thing, and that thing was:… — Luis Alberto Urrea Events Copy Share Image
A great Chicano forebear of mine in writing is Rolando Hinojosa-Smith. He was writing good border mysteries for Chicano readers back in… — Luis Alberto Urrea Back Copy Share Image
A lot of our family was undocumented. My mom and dad were both super conservative. My dad had a green card; my… — Luis Alberto Urrea Conservative Copy Share Image
I have often said I come from a family of unreliable narrators. I tend to believe their struggles with racism, identity, nationality… — Luis Alberto Urrea Believe Copy Share Image
“I can't believe how many students don't read. They want to be writers, but they haven't read anything at all. They have… — Luis Alberto Urrea Books Copy Share Image
“This is how Heaven works. They're practical. We are always looking for rays of light. For lightning bolts or burning bushes. But… — Luis Alberto Urrea Burning bush Copy Share Image
It's almost easy for me to write about a magnificent tropical village with orchids and dragonflies. That's intoxicating, but the United States… — Luis Alberto Urrea About Copy Share Image
Spanish was my first language. Honestly, I learned to first speak in Spanish, not English, because my poor mother had to go… — Luis Alberto Urrea Every day Copy Share Image
“Cutters read the land like a text. They search the manuscript of the ground for irregularities in its narration. They know the… — Luis Alberto Urrea Books Copy Share Image
“Braulio rises and extends his hands, making peace. " No hay pedo ," he says, the absurd lower-class slang for "There's no… — Luis Alberto Urrea Peace Copy Share Image
During grade school, we moved to a white, working-class suburb in San Diego, and there were no Mexicans. — Luis Alberto Urrea Grade Copy Share Image
I've been treated beautifully wherever I've gone, and I really think we all want to love each other. — Luis Alberto Urrea Beautifully Copy Share Image
Death is alive, they whispered. Death lives inside life, as bones dance within the body. Yesterday is within today. Yesterday never dies. — Luis Alberto Urrea Alive Copy Share Image
When 'The Hummingbird's Daughter' came out, there was a certain backlash - 'Well, this isn't 'The Devil's Highway.'' That's just the way… — Luis Alberto Urrea Backlash Copy Share Image
Borders are liminal spaces. Anyone worthy of the title of 'writer' is a border writer. We all are border people. — Luis Alberto Urrea Border Copy Share Image
“On that long westward morning, all Mexicans still dreamed the same dream. They dreamed of being Mexican. There was no greater mystery.” — Luis Alberto Urrea Dream Copy Share Image
I read most often in bed as part of my attempted sleep ritual. But I spend a lot of time reading on… — Luis Alberto Urrea Bed Copy Share Image
In the end, I'm really interested in people and what we do with our short time here on earth. I'm interested in… — Luis Alberto Urrea End Copy Share Image
I saw 'The War Wagon' with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, but it was dubbed into German. And it had Japanese subtitles… — Luis Alberto Urrea Forgotten Copy Share Image
I missed the Wilco phenom while busy obsessing over rock en Espanol. So imagine my surprise when I found myself at O'Hare… — Luis Alberto Urrea Busy Copy Share Image
Poverty ennobles no one; it brutalizes common people and makes them hungry and old. — Luis Alberto Urrea Border-crossing Copy Share Image
“Who was to say that God did not use the coyote’s teeth to eat His gifts?” — Luis Alberto Urrea Coyote Copy Share Image
The situation was kind of complicated in that my mother didn't speak Spanish. My father spoke English, you know, as best he… — Luis Alberto Urrea Best Copy Share Image
I believe God is a poet; every religion in our history was made of poems and songs, and not a few of… — Luis Alberto Urrea Believe Copy Share Image
The tone of 'Into the Beautiful North' is really the way I write. 'Hummingbird's Daughter' was the anomaly. It was a once-in-a-lifetime… — Luis Alberto Urrea Beautiful Copy Share Image
“If it was the Border Patrol’s job to apprehend lawbreakers, it was equally their duty to save the lost and the dying.” — Luis Alberto Urrea Border patrol Copy Share Image
I was torn between the Americanness my mom wanted for me and the Mexicanness my father wanted - they were wrestling for… — Luis Alberto Urrea Father Copy Share Image
