“stupid americastupid america, see thatchicanowith a big knifeon his steady handhe doesn’t want to knife youhe wants to sit on a benchand carve christfiguresbut you won’t let him.stupid america, hear thatchicanoshouting curses on the streethe is a poetwithout paper and penciland since he cannot writehe will explode.stupid america, rememberthat chicanoflunking math and englishhe is the picassoof your western statesbut he will diewith one thousandmasterpieceshanging only from his mind.”

“He was not what he made up his mind to be. A man was the sum of his limits: freedom only made him see how much so. America was no America.”

“I've got everything ready to go," I said once he was finally awake and dressed.All the tenderness and vulnerability was gone from his face when he said, "Go where?""America?"His eyes narrowed. "This is America.""This is Canada.""Which is in North America."Silly Canadians wanting be part of the Cool Kids Club.”

“America One," came Wade's voice from the big shadow, "or America Two?”

“The three golden things to do in life is very simple. Live, Life, Learn. Find the fourth L and your life is perfect.”

“Automobile in America,Chromium steel in America,Wire-spoke wheel in America,Very big deal in America!Immigrant goes to America,Many hellos in America,Nobody knows in America,Puerto Rico's in America!I like the shores of America!Comfort is yours in America!Knobs on the doors in America!Wall-to-wall floors in America!”

“Everybody has their own America, and then they have pieces of a fantasy America that they think is out there but they can’t see…So the fantasy corners of America…you’ve pieced them together from scenes in movies and music and lines from books. And you live in your dream America that you’ve custom-made from art and schmaltz and emotions just as much as you live in your real one.”