I was sixteen when I learned paradise was an illusion. It came about after school as I wandered through my neighbourhood library in search of my next read. I didn’t know what I wanted, having been addicted to the worlds crafted in my favourite fantasy novels and the poignant character development in literary fiction. My parents always told me I needed more reality in my reading diet—more autobiographies and nonfiction so that I could “actually learn” something. Nonfiction, in my teenage mind, was akin only to the textbooks I was forced to read for school, which were monotone, overcomplicated works … Continue reading The Illusion of Paradise