"It’s so funny, I was literally laughing out loud. I heard it was on Quentin Tarantino and Ed Norton’s list of top movies ever of all time, and I didn’t even know what it was. I’d never heard of it. I heard it was a huge box office flop, and then I saw it and wondered why it isn’t more known. I think people just don’t know what it is or don’t understand the idea. These guys are in North Africa, in these awful situations, with the mafia involved. It was totally over the top. For me, it was so funny. Such a great story, so original, just hilarious. I have very rarely laughed this much in a movie. I have no reason why it wasn’t a huge smash success, in the top five funniest movies ever. It’s Dustin Hoffman — I could make a Top Five just around him. Like Rain Man. Watch that again. It will touch your soul."

"I read about Sudan every day, and I didn’t understand what was going on there until this book. Dave Eggers tells the story of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who walked across the country, the largest in Africa. And then Deng spent 13 years in refugee camps before being resettled in Atlanta. It’s a powerful story of what he survived. There are lighter moments in the book: He and his roommates buy a tampon box because they think it’s so pretty. And there are less-kind instances of American behavior in the book—Deng was held hostage in his home and robbed. I didn’t know that church groups had sponsored these men. There’s so much anti-immigration stuff going on in the States right now, it’s heartening to see that people worked to reach out to others who are in need of what our country has to offer."