I was torn between the Americanness my mom wanted for me and the Mexicanness my father wanted - they were wrestling for cultural influence over me.

It's the most absurd story. I grew up in the dirt streets of Tijuana, dying of all kinds of diseases - tuberculosis, fevers, all that - and it somehow turned into this charmed life. I don't know exactly how.

Way back when I was working at the dump, I saw that, even when living among the trash, that some people would decide to choose joy in their lives.

Luis Alberto Urrea Quotes