...far from all of the things that we are...

Marina Nemat's "Prisoner of Tehran" reads like what it must have been for her, a complete catharsis. I can't imagine the process she went through when she was working on the book, the writing and rewriting, retelling and reliving. Last week at the store she gave a stunning recollection of some of her experiences, with an inner strength that was calm and graceful. My own inner strength, it appears, has room for improvement. Later that night, in the back office, in a couple of sentences of broken Farsi mixed with English I told her my not-mine-to-tell which, though cathartic, made me cry in a way I didn't expect. Add an incredible warmth to Ms. Nemat's strength and eloquence, she was so lovely.