Victor LaValle

“Queens, New York. The most ethnically diverse region not just in the United States, but on the entire planet... In Queens, you…

— Victor LaValle

“His name is Robert Paulson.”

— Victor LaValle

“Dig if you will a picture:”

— Victor LaValle

“It’s frightening to step into a place and understand you’re a victim. I’m not talking about a bad feeling or a vague…

— Victor LaValle

“But a wealthy man’s reality is remade at will. Suydam”

— Victor LaValle

“Exactly how many men have you killed here?” Apollo said. “We’re like the police,” Cal said. “We don’t track those numbers.”

— Victor LaValle

I have my teachers who tell me what to do. I'm not quite old enough yet to be truly independent.

— Victor LaValle

William Kowalski is the kind of storyteller you don’t see quite enough these days. The yarn spinner with a generous soul. The…

— Victor LaValle

“Some people act like it’s a sign of weakness if you want to belong, but I think most human beings yearn to…

— Victor LaValle

“That’s the funny thing,” she said. “Men always want to die for something. For someone. I can see the appeal. You do…

— Victor LaValle

“They scolded working mothers who were damaging their poor kids by their need to make a living.”

— Victor LaValle

I’m always looking for the monster. Not even just in horror. I want them in everything. Just give me the monsters. Logical…

— Victor LaValle

“Unsupervised reading is a blessing for a certain kind of child”

— Victor LaValle

“She was in college, a time of optimistic fascism when it seems that all the world needs is one more rally.”

— Victor LaValle

“There are people who say life is dull. Just a series of mundane events. But I can’t agree. Things happen. Bet on…

— Victor LaValle

“You leave a trail of breadcrumbs any wolf could follow, then act shocked when the wolf is outside your door.”

— Victor LaValle

“Fuck the meek. The despised will inherit the earth!”

— Victor LaValle

“The success of any society must be judged by the life of its worst off. No other calculation will do.”

— Victor LaValle

“Think of King Jesus as our greatest doubter. Who saw the order of society and taught us to defy it. Who saw…

— Victor LaValle

“Even monsters hold high opinions of themselves.”

— Victor LaValle

“still the old man traveled on as if he was leading a tour through the descending class structure of Queens.”

— Victor LaValle

The person you are (in total, at that moment in time) is what creates the story you're writing. It's infused in every…

— Victor LaValle

“People hear that you grew up religious, and they can’t imagine you’d have a complex relationship with faith.”

— Victor LaValle

“Oppression doesn’t make people noble. Give any of us a little comfort, and we’ll kill to keep it. The despised become despicable.”

— Victor LaValle

“Pepper woke up thinking of butts. And nothing else. Ladies' butts. Skinny butts, big butts, saddlebag butts, flabby and firm butts, the…

— Victor LaValle