washingtonpost.com
The Writing Life
The author of "In the Time of the Butterflies" considers the challenge of fiction in a post-9/11 world.
By Julia Alvarez


You've probably noticed it, too. How often a reviewer will allude to a novel as such and such an author's first post Sept. 11 work. Or mention Sept. 11 as an influence on the novel. Or assess the novel in the context of a post Sept. 11 world.

And not just reviewers. As a reader, I am reading in a different way. Just as I am traveling on mass transit and going through airports with a higher level of tension. A picture in my head of what can happen that won't go away.