My dad was born a city boy in Houston, Texas, in 1937. When he was around nine, my grandfather closed his Houston restaurant and...

A gentleman doesn’t ride in the back of a shared taxi with a lady if he can avoid it.

Conroe, Texas, is not a large town, and, when I was growing up there, it was smaller still. Houston might as have been a million miles...

Unless your napkin is tucked firmly between your legs, the napkin patrol is going to get it.

The thug places a handgun on the table. “Play the song or die,” he says.

As I bounced little Nadine on my knee, the notion of adoption was planted like a seed in my mind.

Dinesh and family found American food intolerably bland, which turned out to be a big bonus; Dharani cooked for us every day of their visit!

On Ramadan carolers, the golf course, taxis, tennis, and the color white.

I’ve never met a halva I didn’t like, but my favorite is carrot halva.

"My husband is crazy," Dana said.

On day four of our trek to the Annapurna Base Camp...

My wife called this morning from Ashgabat, the world's strangest city, to say, "Hurry and get over here. I'm starving to death!"

First, find a woman with infinite patience and a bad memory. At least, that's the way the old saw goes. Thirty-one years ago, Dana and I...

Making Ghosts Dance is a work of fiction, but the situations described therein are inspired by actual events and circumstances.

Kindly Mr. Kaguchi took us to his hometown festival—and almost killed us!

A middle-aged man sidles up to me and orders an Appletini. He is wearing a black turtleneck, a dead giveaway, in retrospect.

Living in Paris with three kids and only one income, we burned through money like a chimp with a flamethrower.

Although India was where I exited the fast lane to take care of our children full-time, India was not Dana's and my first experience...

This week I spent several days with good friends in Nashville, Tennessee. They're managing every day to raise an almost two-year-old, run...

After several years living stateside in Austin, Texas, my wife, Dana, has decided her life won't be complete unless she becomes a...