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| | Daddy's girl - Salon |
 | | Much of the novel's suspense comes from Jasira's breathtaking tendency to make one bad decision after another, based almost solely on her need for the sexual pleasure that stands in for the love and attention lacking elsewhere in her life. |
 | | Erian, however, seems ready to handle whatever reactions her subject matter inspires, and speaks with the frankness that's at the heart of "Towelhead." The daughter of an Egyptian father and American mother, she also possesses a few striking similarities to her narrator. |
 | | From Wellesley College, where she teaches writing, Erian spoke with Salon about those similarities, as well as the intricacies of racial slurs, the importance of Mary Gaitskill, and the pleasures and pitfalls of having a 13-year-old narrate your first novel. |
| www.salon.com /books/int/2005/04/02/erian/index.html (882 words) |
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