"Khatami is a symptom and not the cause of change in Iran."

"I think some of the greatest writing has been also about writers like Conrad or Nabokov, who have illuminated and giv…"

"Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infideliti…"

"As I trace the route to his apartment, the twists and turns, and pass once more the old tree opposite his house, I am…"

"I explained that most great works of the imagination were meant to make you feel like a stranger in your own home. Th…"

"Azin has bent forward, her long earings playing hide-and-seek in the ringlets of her hair. "We need to be honest with…"

"Do not, under any circumstances belittle a works of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; wha…"

"A novel is not an allegory ... It is the sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold you…"

"A good novel is one that shows the complexity of individuals, and creates enough space for all these characters to ha…"

"Empathy lies at the heart of Gatsby, like so many other great novels — the biggest sin is to be blind to others' prob…"