You can just say the word "hair" to a woman, and she tells you the story of her life.

What gives value to travel is fear. It breaks down a kind of inner structure we all have.

I think I've been mildly obsessed with my hair. I don't think I have a hugely adversarial relationship with it. One my essay is about my decision to keep coloring my hair once it started to go gray, but once I wrote the essay - once the book was in production - I decided to go gray.

You can just say the word "hair" to a woman, and she tells you the story of her life.

Talking about your hair becomes a framework for talking about your vanity, your self-esteem, your relationships with your family, your mortality.

If your hair has never given you any trouble, if you've never had huge fights with your mother about it, then you might not have a story to tell. But I think most people do.