“Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria. Wait a minute. ‘Once upon a time’ is how all the best children’s stories begin and ‘prostitute’ is a word for adults. How can I start a book with this apparent contradiction? But since, at every moment in our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss, let’s keep that beginning.”
— Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes.
