"I heard a smart person say once that short stories were the ideal form to receive and integrate information. Whether it’s completely true or not, the idea has stayed with me, and if you were trying to argue the point, “I Knew You’d Be Lovely,” could be held up as Exhibit A. Emotionally, no work(s) of fiction ever moved me more thoroughly."

"All of my favourite films are approaching realism in a different way. This is Italian neorealism – obviously there’s a script and a story and everything, but it’s shot in the street and it has the feel of Italy, of being in the streets and, like Idaho, a deceivingly, simply constructed narrative. But there’s so much emotion that’s evoked from these very simple stories."

"One of my favorite love stories. A deaf-and-dumb garbage man/surfer and his deaf girlfriend who is in complete admiration of him. I remember thinking of them when I saw a group of surfers on a beach at 5 a.m. in Japan. They were waiting for waves that never came... This is the moment I fell in love with Japan."

"I was certainly intrigued by this book because of the topic — Malcolm X is a fascinating guy in the Black Rights Movement. However, what really makes me appreciate this book is the top-notch journalism that Alex Haley exhibited, putting together these stories of Malcolm X's. I think about this book whenever I am at Red Rooster, located appropriately on Malcolm X Blvd."

"I’m currently working through this one story at a time A friend who works in publishing introduced me to Monterroso’s writing because I have often called some of my work fables, and Monterroso’s short stories feel like that, also. But they are also very unsettling, with a Kafak-esque sheen to them, like black little pearls that are beautiful but scare you."

"Four stories that join forces, set around the day that Phillippe Petit walked between the Twin Towers on a tightrope... Again, the sweltering heat of New York in the ‘70s drew me in with a deep, familiar impression. I gave this book to my brother, who reminded me of it when I was trying to choose books for this project."