"The humor was very appealing to me, and I felt like I got to see locations and aspects of Chinese filmmaking that I’d never been introduced to. The structure and the mixing of genres and techniques kept my filmmaking side alert and well fed."

"Birth defects, ancient Chinese terra cotta figures, the history of clouds, burning questions about suffering, numbers, evil, and time — this strange gem of a book has it all. Each category of thought is a portal, and its structure is a thing of unfolding beauty."

"Sidney Lumet’s film version of Tennessee Williams’s Orpheus Descending, with a script by Meade Roberts (who later played Mr. Sophistication in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie). I love Brando in this, especially that opening speech to the judge, and when he recounts the story of meeting Leadbelly."

"Why did Chinese foot binding end? Or the western pistol duel, for that matter? The Honor Code takes a stab at this history, revealing the importance of honor as an agent for major social and political change — a salient point to make in this morally fraught time of rapid transformation."