. . . Nobody Every Taught You

I'd Known That The Visit Would Be Highly Scripted And That Genuine Interactions With Citizens Wouldn't Be Possible, Since It's Illegal For Them To Speak With Foreigners. Still, I'd Thought I'd Had A Unique Look At North Korea, Only To Discover I Was Wrong.

The Urge To Create A Fictional Narrative Is A Mysterious One, And When An Idea Comes, The Writer's Sense Of What A Story Wants To Be Is Only Vaguely Visible Through The Penumbra Of Inspiration.

A Good Story Feels Both Surprising And Inevitable, Fresh And Familiar.

The Death Of Dictator Kim Jong-il Has Cast All Eyes On North Korea, A Country Without Literature Or Freedom Or Truth.

The Next Day, She Was Silent. For Breakfast, She Murdered An Onion And Served It Raw.