Poor Reading, Like Poor Writing,

We In Ancient Countries Have Our Past- We Obsess Over The Past. They, The Americans, Have A Dream: They Feel Nostalgia About The Promise Of The Future.

With Fear Come The Lies And The Justifications That, No Matter How Convincing, Lower Our Self-esteem.

Thus The Regime Has Deprived Iranian Women Not Just Of Their Present Rights, But Also Of Their History And Their Past.

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.

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.