There was this very deliberate move to just overlay an American reality in Iraq. I've never actually seen the map, but apparently Americans thought the names of places were just too complicated so they got decent maps of Baghdad and just renamed everything with familiar names. This neighborhood would be Hollywood, that neighborhood would be Manhattan, and that one's Madison, you're going to drive down Oak and take a left on Main Street.
Elliott CollaNoir is where the clarity of moral divisions break down, the black and whites turn into grays.
Elliott CollaThe corruption in Iraq has nothing to do with ideas - it has to do with the regime and institutional structures and power.
Elliott CollaIf I have learned how to write fiction it's by working with great writers and getting them to explain their craft to me so that I can do it in English.
Elliott Colla