In 1987-88, I taught at Jamia Millia University in New Delhi as a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in American Studies.  My students and colleagues at Jamia Millia, most of whom were Muslim, welcomed me with curiosity, respect, and great affection. A Passage Through India is my memoir of that extraordinary year, the one book I’ve written that has not been driven by larger social concerns. 

       After the demanding work of researching and writing a lengthy biography (the original manuscript manuscript for Two Rooms was just under 1,000 pages), it was immensely freeing to be writing from my own life, dealing not so much with facts as with impressions and feelings. For the first time, I put my voice and my life experience at the narrative center of my creative work.