The writer interweaves a story with his own doubts, questions, and values. That is art.

We used the Western style to express our own themes and stories. But don't forget that our heritage includes The Thousand and One Nights.

History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.

You know what I'm afraid of? That God is sick of us.

When you spend time with your friends, what do you talk about? Those things which made an impression on you that day, that week ... I write stories the same way. Events at home, in school, at work, in the street, these are the bases for a story. Some experiences leave such a deep impression that instead of talking about them at the club I work them into a novel.

I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.

I was suffering from a peculiar and persistent sense that I was being pursued, and also the conviction that under the political order of the times, our lives had no meaning.