The Shape of a Finely Made Story

"Story has a form that brings a certain order. The shape of a finely made story has the same energy as sexual energy or life energy. It's like the ebbing and flowing of tide and of storms. I think this goes through our bodies, it goes through our psyches, and the shape of story takes that same cyclical form."

--Maxine Hong Kingston speaking with Bill Moyers about her latest book Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. "For the past 15 years, Kingston has been working with veterans – more than 500 soldiers from World War II, from Vietnam, and now, from Iraq - as well as other survivors of war to convert the horrors they experienced into the words and stories that Kingston believes will help them cope and survive."