But what humans forget, cells remember. The body, that elephant

You used to be able to tell a person's nationality by the face. Immigration ended that. Next you discerned nationality via the footwear. Globalization ended that.

But what humans forget, cells remember. The body, that elephant

I saw the movie, he said. I know what it's about. Listen to this. When girls get to be about twelve or so - he leaned toward us - their tits bleed.

Whenever we got a glimpse, their faces looked indecently revealed, as though we were used to seeing women in veils.

I approach writing female characters the same why I approach writing male characters. I never think I'm writing about women, I think I'm writing about one woman, one person. And I try to imagine what she is like, and endow her with a lot of my own thoughts and history.

In the end, it wasn't death that surprised her but the stubbornness of life.