"Thank you, Scorsese and Criterion, for this world cinema collection. On the headstock of my guitar is the name of the band Nass El Ghiwane. I have heard about Trances for years, and finally now I have been able to see it . . . and snuck into the experience was The Housekeeper, which helped me grasp the manipulations of individuals in my tangible life, creeping me the fuck out."

"I am obsessed with the subject matter. The Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 remains the quintessential adventure. Ambrose perfectly distills the journals, and his skillful retelling of the journey becomes a perfect introduction to this important event. I own the 12-volume set of the journals published by the University of Nebraska and have spent a lot of time delving into that collection."

"Another strong stylist that I imitated for a while was a woman named Joy Williams who had a short story collection called Taking Care. She has such a singular voice. It hasn’t really changed over the years. I remember she was talking about a girl having a fantasy about her beau and she said, ‘He was feeling fine, and fancy too.’ It was such music to me."