I Have Wanted Everything As A Writer

I Think I Would Have Died If There Hadn't Been The Women's Movement.

And Of Course These Days I Feel Like There Is A Nation Of Us - Displaced Southerners And Children Of The Working Class. We Listen To Steve Earle, Mary J. Blige, And K.d. Lang. We Devour Paperback Novels And Tell Evil Mean Stories, Value Stubbornness Above Patience And A Sense Of Humor More Than A College Education. We Claim Our Heritage With A Full Appreciation Of How Often It Has Been Disdained. And Let Me Promise You, You Do Not Want To Make Us Angry.

Two Or Three Things I Know, Two Or Three Things I Know For Sure, And One Of Them Is That To Go On Living I Have To Tell Stories, That Stories Are The One Sure Way I Know To Touch The Heart And Change The World

One Of The Strengths I Derive From My Class Background Is That I Am Accustomed To Contempt.

Hunger Makes You Restless. You Dream About Food - Not Just Any Food, But Perfect Food, The Best Food, Magical Meals, Famous And Awe-inspiring, The One Piece Of Meat, The Exact Taste Of Buttery Corn, Tomatoes So Ripe They Split And Sweeten The Air, Beans So Crisp They Snap Between The Teeth, Gravy Like Mother's Milk Singing To Your Bloodstream.