I didn't want it to be a book that made pronouncements.

There's a fearful term that's in fashion at the moment - closure. People apparently believe it is desirable and attainable.

You have this comet trail of your own lived life, sparks from which arrive in the head all the time, whether you want them or not - life has been lived but it is still all going on, in the mind for better and for worse.

Born in Jerusalem, Wadie Said went from being a dragoman to a salesman in the United States and thence to a hugely successful businessman in Egypt.

If people don't read, that's their choice; a lifelong book habit may itself be some sort of affliction.

I've always been fascinated by the operation of memory - the way in which it is not linear but fragmented, and its ambivalence.

Giving presents is one of the most possessive things we do, did you realize that? It's the way we keep a hold on other people. Plant ourselves in their lives.