In this week's issue, Peter Hessler writes about how the Egyptian revolution has played out Abydos, a small village in Upper Egypt. Here Sasha Weiss speaks with Hessler about why he likes to report from small towns, and how his years in China have helped him understand life in Egypt more clearly. Hessler explains how political power is expressed on the village level in both Egypt and China, and why we haven't seen a Chinese version of the Arab Spring. Weiss also asks about his piece on a small-town pharmacist in Colorado, and how he approaches writing about individuals and communities. Separately, Jeffrey Eugenides does his best Texan accent.