American - Author | July 11, 1967 -
Oddly, I feel more protected when I write in Italian, even though I'm also more exposed.
Jhumpa Lahiri
FeelMoreWriteItalianEvenI Feel
My parents came from Calcutta. They arrived in Cambridge, much like the parents in my novel. And I found myself sort of caught between the world of my parents and the world they had left behind and still clung to, and also the world that surrounded me at school and everywhere else, as soon as I set foot out the door.
MyselfSchoolParentsMeDoorWorld
In Italy, where I live now, I have put some distance between myself and the world that has formed me.
LiveMyselfMeWorldDistanceNow
I have two passports because I have to have at least one, and I really don't know how I define myself. And I feel that as I get older, I feel very fortunate to have, on paper, a dual nationality.
MyselfFeelKnowTwoFortunateGet
It was very hard for me, for most of my life, to feel American, or call myself American, and that is a very complicated topic that would require a very long conversation.
LifeMyselfMeAmericanMy Life
I try to represent specific experiences of specific characters, and that's all I want to try to do. I don't ever try to think about representing a culture, because its impossible, and someone will fault you. And it just doesn't interest me.
CultureMeImpossibleThinkSomeone
I write about characters that interest me. And I don't think of my books as being forms of entertainment.
MeThinkEntertainmentWriteBeing
They've lived here now for more than half of their lives, and they raised a family here and now have grandchildren here... It has become their home, but at the same time, for my parents, I don't think either of them will ever consciously think, 'I am an American.'
FamilyHomeTimeI AmParentsThink
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