The Inauguration: I Was There, Once

Out of a sense either of literary nonpartisanship or perhaps cowardice, I've been reluctant to drop any hints about my political inclinations. Having written a novel that deals with messy issues like individual rights versus collective needs, and morality during times of crisis -- a novel that tries to put forth very opposing viewpoints in equally sympathetic light -- I've thought it better not to comment on loaded contemporary issues so that whatever I say about Iraq or Bush or Obama or taxe...