We All Had To Pay, But Not

What Dazzles Us In Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra Are Not The Alluring Mythologies About The Evasive Queen, But The Astonishing If Rare Historical Facts That Schiff Has Meticulously And Lovingly Excavated. Schiff Offers Not Just Cleopatra's Story But The Story Of An Amazing Era, One That Has Vanished But Still Affects Us, Questioning The Way We Look At Myth, History, And Ourselves.

The Stories From Iran's Present And Past Are Reminders That Freedom, Democracy And Human Rights, Or Fundamentalism, Fascism And Terrorism Are Not Geographically And Culturally Determined, But Universal.

A Novel Is Not Moral In The Usual Sense Of The Word. It Can Be Called Moral When It Shakes Us Out Of Our Stupor And Makes Us Confront The Absolutes We Believe In.

If I Turned Towards Books, It Was Because They Were The Only Sanctuary I Knew, One I Needed In Order To Survive, To Protect Some Aspect Of Myself That Was Now In Constant Retreat.

The Crisis Besetting America Is Not Just An Economic Or Political Crisis; Something Deeper Is Wreaking Havoc Across The Land, A Mercenary And Utilitarian Attitude That Demonstrates Little Empathy For People’s Actual Well-being, That Dismisses Imagination And Thought, Branding Passion For Knowledge As Irrelevant.