Quotations:
"I tend to write. . . to individuals. In fact . . . I generally have photos in front of me when I write. And maybe this is the vestige of my Catholic education; they're like little relics. [Shows a photograph to audience] This is my favorite informant, Bieu, who's taken out her false teeth--the playful side of Bieu. I try to amuse her sometimes. Or some of my favorite street kids will be out there. Or a picture of the local priest, and I'll be then arguing with aspects of Catholicism."
". . . Sometimes I write to the Pope. And in fact, I had a dream when I almost finished Death Without Weeping, that Pope John Paul was in a crowd, and turned around, and I very nervously handed him my book. And he took it, he smiled, and he blessed me."
"[Pulls out a little figurine] Yeah, this is my little icon. It's a little naked devil. And I keep him in front of me, sticking his tongue out because, you know, you have to have a sense of humor about writing, and also because you write with your angels, but you write with your devils too. And you'd be lost if you got rid of all those devils, because they really help you, they give you your passion, and so, it's bringing the angels and the devils together in your writing."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H_APWnHkM8&feature=youtu.be
- Death without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil (1992)
- Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness and Irish Culture (1976)
- Small Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood, University of California Press (1998)