Heroes and villains Quote by Laila Lalami

There is a insularity within American fiction even for adults. It's very tough for books in translation in the US.

— Laila Lalami

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

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

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

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

In some ways, I think it's the closest that we come to the truth — is in the form of fiction.

— Laila Lalami

“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

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

“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

“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

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

No one wrote better about the sin of pride, the corruption of power and the redemption of love. I will miss you, Gabriel García…

— Laila Lalami