June 8, 2012<\/p>\n
This fall I will be visiting three cities of the Western
\nMediterranean: Naples, Marseilles, and Tangier. These are places I’ve
\nalways wanted to see, and they specifically appeal to me as a writer.
\nVernacular urban culture is perhaps my favorite subject. I started
\nwriting a novel about Philadelphia this year, and Naples, with its two
\nthousand years of urban concentration, is the source of the most
\nvisible layer of traditional European culture in that city. Marseille
\npulls together strands from all over Europe and Africa; it is the
\nancient port and the modern melting pot: syncretic and unruly, and
\nincreasingly, the gateway city for Europe\u2019s Muslim immigrants. Tangier
\nhas a slower pace and a different sort of appeal: it’s an interzone,
\ntraditionally outside the law, drawing Berbers from the mountains,
\nmigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, and Bohemian refugees from Europe
\nand America. I look forward to settling down for a longer visit there,
\ntaking time to meditate on what I’ve seen.<\/p>\n