“ It is always the first and last steps that are the hardest to take. We walk away and try not to turn back, or we stand just outside the gates, terrified to find what's waiting for us now that we've re… Dinaw Mengestu
“ Inside the front flap of the book were handwritten names of the dozen or so people who had checked the book out before Naomi. Instead of writing her name, Naomi had a thin paper receipt with the due d… Dinaw Mengestu
“ We persist and linger longer than we think, leaving traces of ourselves wherever we go. If you take that away, then we all simply vanish. Dinaw Mengestu
“ There are those who wake up each morning to conquer the day, and then there are those of us who wake up only because we have to. We live in the shadow of every neighborhood. We own little corner store… Dinaw Mengestu
“ The imagined memories had to have as much weight as the real, or we had to at least pretend they did to such a degree that they just very well might have. And so I never questioned Angela about that p… Dinaw Mengestu
