By measuring individual human worth, the novelist reveals the full enormity of the State
How can a novelist achieve atonement when with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also god?
Rebecca Goldstein is a rare find among contemporary novelists: she has intellectual muscle as well as a tender emotional reach.
I do have a very strong sense that most of the terrible things in life happen suddenly and unpredictably, and certainly can sweep you off in different directions, and that is always of interest to a novelist.