Nyc Doesn't Have A Big Sign Saying

For Me, Writing A Novel Is Like Solving A Puzzle. But I Don't Intend My Novels As Puzzles. I Intend Them As Invitations To Dance.

In Italian, The Word For Novel Is Romanzo, "the Romance." The English Is "novel" - Something New. Both Of Those Elements, Experimentation And Love, Are Fundamental To The Form.

Outside Of America, There Are Many People, Myself Included, Who Champion Values That, In Some Senses, Could Be Thought Of As Traditionally American - The Idea That Everybody's Equal, That The Rights Of Women And Men Should Be The Same, That There Should Be No Discrimination On Religious Or Sexual Orientation, That Democracy And Rule Of Law And Due Process Are The Ways In Which Society Should Govern Themselves And Minorities Should Be Cared For.

Time Is Our Most Precious Currency. So It's Significant That We Are Being Encouraged, Wherever Possible, To Think Of Our Attention Not As Expenditure But As Consumption. This Blurring Of Labor And Entertainment Forms The Basis, For Example, Of The Financial Alchemy That Conjures Deca-billion-dollar Valuations For Social-networking Companies.

If The Dominant Political Expression That We're Seeing Right Now Is Of Nostalgia And We Know That Nostalgia Won't Really Work Out, What Happens Is, We Become Depressed As Individuals And Societies - When We're Depressed, We're Much More Vulnerable To Be Taken Advantage Of By Demagogues And Xenophobes.