The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian; I am an American.... All distinctions are thrown down; all America is one mass.
It's the South that maintains the idea that they're different, which is interesting because nobody else really cares.
Why can I write 'South' with some assurance that you'll know I mean Richmond and don't mean Phoenix? What is it that the South's boundaries enclose?
Australia and New Zealand have traditionally shared very close links, yet there are things that set us apart and make us unique - Australia's wildlife experience being one of them.
We are fans because the game also appeals to our local pride, our pleasure in thinking of ourselves as, yes, Americans but nonetheless different from residents of other towns, other states, other regions.
It's just that what's important there is different there than what's important is here. Here, people care that you wrote a book or that you work in the media.
Anyone who has crossed from the district of Bolkhov into that of Zhizdra will probably have been struck by the sharp difference between the natives of the provinces of Orel and Kaluga.
You know what the funniest thing about Europe is? It's the little differences.
Something I notice speaking to writers from south of Hadrian's Wall is that the culture is different. At base, I think Scotland values its creative industries differently from England.
Southern political personalities, like sweet corn, travel badly. They lose flavor with every hundred yards away from the patch. By the time they reach New York, they are like Golden Bantam that has been trucked up from Texas - stale and unprofitable. The consumer forgets that the corn tastes different where it grows.
There's a difference between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Brooklyn and Queens. There's a difference.
In New York City, they have their own way of doing things. Every city and every region should do its own thing.
