The real influence on my work was reality, that of my country and Latin America in general.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Generally, I think my work has so much influence because of its reasonableness.
I majored in political science, and my concentration was U.S. involvement in Latin America in the 20th century.
I work with history because I come from a country that has a tremendous thirst for reality.
I was the first person to come into New York with a Latin American point of view which was also very much influenced by political happenings in Latin America.
Being educated in the United States gave me a good understanding of American culture. I think I got a lot of influence from the entrepreneurial mind in the United States.
I spent my whole life as a writer talking to just the average guy in Los Angeles and Latin America, talking to working people.
It always amuses me that the biggest praise for my work comes for the imagination, while the truth is that there's not a single line in all my work that does not have a basis in reality. The problem is that Caribbean reality resembles the wildest imagination.
I went through a lot of occupations. I was questioning my contribution to the world.
I've been asked a great deal about the influence I've had with my work and it's impossible to say, you know.
The only real influence I've ever had was myself.