Art in dark times

With a war going on, how can we read fiction? And how can we not?

Dear friends,

I turned in revisions to my book manuscript—an experimental biography of Anne Frank, for those who haven’t been following my journey here—at around 6 p.m. on October 6. I had dinner with my family and went to bed early.

I woke up on October 7 and opened Instagram. (No, I’m not proud.) The first image I saw was of bodies on an Israeli highwa…