Does self-acceptance ultimately require another person, or is there a kind of love that does not dabble in the dream of a perfect twinship?

It's very Western to idealize a kind of love that does not come with any expectations, that still permits both the giver and recipient to be completely free.

Ultimately, we wish the joy of perfect union with the person we love.

Mothers have always held such symbolic weight in determining a person's worth. Your mother tongue, your motherland, your mother's values - these things can qualify or disqualify you from attaining myriad American dreams: love, fluency, citizenship, legitimacy, acceptance, success, freedom.

I wish I had acted better. I wish I had been the kind of sister who was patient enough to show my brother the proper spelling for 'Power Rangers.'

The reader who likes my stories, I think they would see the violence on the surface, but I think they would also see a deeper violence - the one that's not as showy or as immediately arresting, but kind of the more unsolvable violence that lurks underneath.