Edmund White

Nothing lasts in New York. The life that is lived there, however, is as intense as it gets.

The culmination of a long struggle was 2013, which could clearly be labeled the Year of the Gay. State after state had legalized gay marriage, despite intense opposition from the religious right.

Paris can be like the land of the Lotus-Eaters. You can't leave.

To make money I picked up work as a busboy, valet parker, skateboard shop employee.

By pouring money and goods into devastated regions, foreign aid workers sometimes compound the disruption and debauch the survivors.

I think penguins are cute.