...I’m always shocked by the lack of historical awareness on the part of the average American. Many of the people who have come here did so to forget… - Maximum City

At the age of fourteen I had experienced a miracle. I turned on a tap, and clean water came gushing out.

...I think the difference between alienated writers and sunnier writers—I don’t know if sunnier is a great term—is family. Every time I get alienated, my family comes and visits me. I don’t have the luxury of that French existentialist angst. I have a large extended family and we bicker and fight...

...When people move, everyone benefits. The rich countries benefit. And the migrants themselves benefit. And the countries that they move from benefit because the rich countries aren't making enough babies. The migrants improve their standard of living by an average of fivefold...