With a name like Luis Alberto Urrea, it's political no matter what I do. — Luis Alberto Urrea Copy Share Image
Everybody knew that being dead could put you in a terrible mood. — Luis Alberto Urrea Mood Copy Share Image
People think of me as a political writer, but I don't think of myself that way. — Luis Alberto Urrea Copy Share Image
I don't like to see people get kicked around. You have to stand up for them. — Luis Alberto Urrea Copy Share Image
I love books with titles like, 'How Do You Spank a Porcupine?,' 'Arnie, the Darling Starling,' or 'The Bat in My Pocket.' — Luis Alberto Urrea Books 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 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 Copy Share Image
The stupidity of militarized fences between two worlds is a metaphor for all the things that divide us as human beings. — Luis Alberto Urrea Copy Share Image
When I was a little boy in Tijuana, it was wonderland. We left when I was probably four - I was dying… — Luis Alberto Urrea 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 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
“Cruz made the sign of the cross over them. He hefted his rifle onto his shoulder and walked away. His warriors followed,… — Luis Alberto Urrea Cross Copy Share Image
It's the most absurd story. I grew up in the dirt streets of Tijuana, dying of all kinds of diseases - tuberculosis,… — Luis Alberto Urrea Absurd 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
“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
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 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 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 Copy Share Image
I used to work with a relief group that took care of the people in the dump. We took them food and… — Luis Alberto Urrea Church Copy Share Image
We want to ascribe a kind of tragic grimness to people, but people are funny. — Luis Alberto Urrea 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 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
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 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 Copy Share Image
I am addicted to poetry, but the truth is I cannot pass up a good hard-boiled mystery. — Luis Alberto Urrea 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'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 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
I've been treated beautifully wherever I've gone, and I really think we all want to love each other. — Luis Alberto Urrea 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 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 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
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 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
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 Copy Share Image
