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yarafadel's review
5.0
I don’t know where to start - wow! As an Arab and as a Palestinian, this hit home for me to much. I will admit we Arabs who grew up in the Arab world do not know much of Jewish Arabs, and that’s a reason for the importance of this book. I loved the questions Hayoun presented on what it means to be Arab, and was heartfelt and deep to watch him and his family reclaim their Arabness. A very important book, a documentation of lives not spoken of enough yet so very crucial for the Jewish and Arab existence. Highly recommended.
kleonard's review
1.0
This was a near-unreadable mess of polemic, history, family history, and memoir. It's poorly organized and written, jumps around in a scattered and unedited way, and ultimately is a chore to get through. I think the author has a story to tell and a point--or several--to make, but those aren't served well in the current state this book is in.
serenedancer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Brilliantly written story that combined the Jewish Arab stories and his grandparents lives. I liked how he discussed the history of the area and the destruction of the relationships that Israel caused as well as other Western countries. Especially, how he went over France's part in changing people's perception of their own Judaism and that of others.
The two stories were well combined and I greatly enjoyed it.
The two stories were well combined and I greatly enjoyed it.
thishannah's review
I became interested in reading this book after seeing Massoud Hayoun's acceptance speech after winning the Arab American book award. He spoke with such conviction and passion that I was curious to read more. I really enjoyed how he mixed his family's personal stories with the larger history of Jews in the Arab world. At times I wished I were listening to the author speak instead of reading the words on the page, especially in the first and last chapters. Some of the sentences were difficult to parse and felt like they work better spoken aloud rather than written, but the content was compelling enough to make up for any concerns about the prose itself. Above all, I felt this history was told with a great amount of nuance and honesty and had important things to say about identity, place, and community.