Men Do Communicate, Often Very Directly, But

The Internet Is Really Our Meeting Place. We Have This Amazing Listserv. Every Time I Log Onto It I Feel A Sense Of Pride, Because If You Log On And Say, "oh I Was Just In San Diego And I Was In A Park And I Saw A Lion," The Flurry Of Replies On Average Is Just Like--wow! All These Existential Questions About What It Means To Be An African, And Never Having Seen A Lion At Home, But Having Seen A Lion Here. Everything You Say Turns Into This Real Philosophical Debate--it's Incredible In So Many Ways. And It's An Invigorating Place To Be.

The Problem Is We're Looking For Something That Doesn't Exist. We're Looking For Authenticity. There Is No Such Thing As Authenticity. There Is Either Good Art Or Bad Art. Art Is Never About Its Content. It's About Its Scaffolding.

Something That Had The Quality Of A Dimly Lit Stage Set Just Before The Curtains Rise On Opening Night. There Was A Rhythm To It, A Beckoning, And A Bittersweet Tear In Time.

Fiction Is More Dangerous Than Nonfiction Because It Can Seduce Better. I Think We All Know This, Know That Deeper Truths Can Be Approached In Fiction Than In Fact. There Are Risks For The Reader, Because After Reading Certain Books You Find You Have Changed Irreversibly. There Are Risks For Writers: In China, Now, And Ethiopia And Other Countries Right Now, Writers Face Real Persecution.

I Think Cities Are The Primordial Forests Of Our Time. We Evolve Faster As A Species In Cities. Cities Are Chaotic, Liminal Places Where The Many Aspects Of Human Potential, Good And/or Bad, Are Most Readily Magnified.