In 2005, at the age of twenty five, the Afghan poet Nadia Anjuman was beaten to death by her husband. In defiance of the Taliban government, she had organized a group of women under the guise of a sewing circle to study literature and poetry. She was the mother of a young child and the author of two books of poetry, one of which contained the line, “My wings are … Read More »

In one of many hilarious scenes in the film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray meets an old acquaintance who has become an insurance salesman. Murray unexpectedly showers him with affection, hugging him for too long and tightly, even giving him a peck on the neck, until the man breaks free and scampers off like a mouse at a cat show. What is worse? A bore or a … Read More »

“As a nation, we Germans too have a weakness that is also our greatest quality: our tactlessness, which is really a lack of imagination; we are incapable of putting ourselves in anyone else’s place; we hurt people for no reason; we make others hate us, but that allows us to behave inflexibly and without faltering.” In the 1940s, when the Germans were an occupation force in France, Irene Nemirovsky observed that … Read More »

1. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (New York: Atria Books, 2006). I am focusing my mind power on getting this book off the bestseller list. Recycled common sense (”eat less and exercise more”) by a future member of the billionaire book authors club. 2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (New York: Vintage Books, 2006). A father and son journey through post-apocalyptic America. I was hooked when I read the dust … Read More »

Father and son walking down the road toward the sea and an imagined refuge upon the incinerated earth. Pushing a shopping cart filled with belongings scavenged from burned out houses and shriveled farms. The boy without a name or memory of the world before the apocalypse. Only his father. Who carries a pistol like a lover. Who carries the fire. … Read More »