The Parisians, I realized, might be proud of their antiwar stance, but they didn’t analyze it much. Saying “It’s all about oil” was a kind of fashion statement, like wearing a thong that showed over the top of your jeans. And I’d become like them (except for the thong, of course). I didn’t want war, but I didn’t want to spend my whole life talking about not wanting it. I wanted to dismiss talk of war with one hip statement and get back to serious subjects like sex, holiday plans, and where to get good seafood.
