I Think Islam Is In A Sense,

Every Great Work Of Art ... Is A Celebration, An Act Of Insubordination Against The Betrayals, Horrors And Infidelities Of Life.

What Dazzles Us In Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra Are Not The Alluring Mythologies About The Evasive Queen, But The Astonishing If Rare Historical Facts That Schiff Has Meticulously And Lovingly Excavated. Schiff Offers Not Just Cleopatra's Story But The Story Of An Amazing Era, One That Has Vanished But Still Affects Us, Questioning The Way We Look At Myth, History, And Ourselves.

I Finally Returned To Iran In 1979, When I Got My Degree In English And American Literature, And Stayed For 18 Years In The Islamic Republic.

When I Walked Down The Streets, I Asked Myself, Are These My People?, Is This My Hometown, Am I Who I Am?

Art Is No Longer Snobbish Or Cowardly. It Teaches Peasants To Use Tractors, Gives Lyrics To Young Soldiers, Designs Textiles For Factory Women's Dresses, Writes Burlesque For Factory Theatres, Does A Hundred Other Useful Tasks. Art Is As Usueful As Bread.