From an article in the May 28, 2007 issue of
The New Yorker, "The Golden Man," in which
Paul Theroux describes the tyranny of the late ruler of
Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, aka Bashi:
...he regarded himself as an accomplished writer — a clear sign of madness in anyone.
This would have been my favorite sentence in the article, if he hadn't added this a few paragraphs later:
This [memory of his mother's smile] was perhaps why many of the portraits of Bashi showed him with a smile, though he never looked less amused than when he was grinning; his smile -- and this may be true of all political leaders -- was his most sinister feature.
2 comments:
I don't know Jan. Being a writer myself, I've got to go with the first one. I'm sure my family would agree!
I think you're right, Joyce. I can think of politicians who have smiles that aren't sinster, but I can't think of any exceptions to that first statement.
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