Literature Helps Us Transcend Ourselves.

What Did I Think Of Princeton? Well, The Answer To That Question Requires A Story. When I First Arrived, I Looked Around Me At The Gothic Buildings - Younger, I Later Learned, Than Many Of The Mosques Of This City, But Made Through Acid Treatment And Ingenious Stone-masonry To Look Older.

So Much Of Our Conversation About Love Is Possessive. "you Are Mine. And If You Stop Being Mine, I Will Hate You." And So Exploring Non-possessive Ideas Of Love And Friendship Is Important. Which Is Not To Say We Should Just Break Down Monogamy, I'm Not Taking A Simplistic Point Of View. But, In Addition To These Examples Of Possessive Love That We Already Have So Much Of, Let Us Also Explore What Examples Of Non-possessive Love And Affection Mean.

My Mother Has Been To Mecca To Perform Her Hajj; My Dad Hasn't. I Come From A Very Liberal Family, So Even The People Who Are Outwardly Religious Tend To Subscribe To Gender Equality, The Importance Of Open-mindedness, All That Stuff. My Family Is Generally Nonprescriptive.

Novel Writing Is The Slowest Art Form In The World. It Is Not A Sprint. It Is Not Even A Marathon. It Is A Series Of Marathons That Stretch Over And Over Across A Continent.

When Terrorism Strikes, Divisive Anger Is A Natural Response.