There was a feeling during the years of George W. Bushs presidency that his gracelessness as well as his appetite for war were linked to his impatience with complexity. He acted from the gut, and was economical with the truth until it disappeared.

Things don't go away just because you choose to forget them.

I adore imaginary monsters, but I am terrified of real ones.

The white savior supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening.

I often say I've spent more time with photography than I have with literature just in terms of hours.

Not in this specific form. But all great cities are inhabited by ghosts. A book of this kind could probably be written about Jakarta, Manila, or London by anyone who had a feeling for the invisible truths of those places.

So, for a book set in 2006, Open City evades certain markers, while it embraces certain others. Julius doesn't use a smartphone, and he doesn't discuss contemporary US politics in any fine detail.