Cultural Cross Sections Shohreh Laici Photo of Tehran by Xiquinho Silva / Flickr A writer in Tehran incapable of entering the US under the Muslim travel ban encounters Michelle Obama’s Becoming in a beauty salon. Reading the Farsi translation, she finds encouragement in its pages. Every Fourth of July, I question my American friends’ patriotism. I email them Independence Day congratulations, attached with pictures of the American flag. Many of my American friends don’t show much interest in my Fourth of July congratulations. Like my friend Sam. He thinks differently about the idea of the flag, national anthem, and patriotism. Sam believes that the flag is not sacred; it’s just a symbol. He says he doesn’t need to wrap himself in the US flag to demonstrate that he is a patriot. To him, patriotism is more than just following a flag and cheering for the politicians who wave it. Although Sam was born and raised in a military family with right-wing political views, he is very leftist. Since November 2016, Sam has lived in a number of European countries and recently settled down in northeastern Africa to serve as a health consultant. He doesn’t like living in the States anymore and thinks of himself as a citizen of the world. Once I asked Sam how he feels when some people of other countries—including Iran—burn the US flag. He smiled and said, “I understand that it’s a statement. We—the Americans—burn our flag to make a statement,... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2019-11-26 14:55:39 UTC ]
Paul Khauli, managing director of Levant Group distributors, has died. Khauli passed away in Beirut on Friday 16th January, following a heart attack, aged 67. His funeral was held in Beirut last week (19th). Bill Kennedy of Avicenna Partnership, which offers sales and marketing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple has raised its minimum app prices in the UK, Canada and European countries that use the Euro. Gigaom reports that the minimum app price is now £0.79 in the U.K, €0.99 in the EU, and $1.19 in Canada. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins is selling English-language atlases to schools in the Middle East which do not show Israel, it has been reported. The Catholic newspaper The Tablet said Collins Middle East Atlases show Jordan and Syria extending to the Mediterranean, and mark the position of the West Bank, but do... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Japan's 90-branch Kinokuniya book chain "would love to come to Europe if the opportunity arises", Hiroshi Sogo, m.d. of the company's e-commerce arm AsianBasis Corporation, told delegates at the Publishers Association's International Conference in London yesterday (11th December). Sogo was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rob Bell and Kristen Bell reflect on the meaning of marriage; Gerard Russell explains little-understood religious dynamics in the Middle East. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Established in memory of Nobel Prize-winning author Saul Bellow, the $25,000 award is presented biannually to a living American author whose "scale of achievement in fiction, over a sustained career, places him or her in the highest rank of American literature." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Islamic Book Exhibition serves as a forum for dialogue on some of the hottest topics affecting the Middle East and Islam, all through the medium of books. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The late author's UK editor remembers a funny, gracious, kind, demanding, delightful and wise human being and writer of one of the world's great autobiographiesMaya Angelou was one of the world's most important writers and activists. She lived and chronicled an extraordinary life: rising from... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bobo Backslack is the unluckiest person in all of North Dakota. All he wants is to work hard at his job, get a girlfriend, and make his mom proud, but all the forces, both natural and supernatural, seem to be working against him. "The Bad-ventures of Boboslack" is created by Jon Chadurjian and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The movie will be based on the memoir by journalist Kim Barker, a darkly comic look at reporting in the Middle East. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary agent David Godwin predicts that small publishers in India will soon be forced aside by monolithic publishing houses run overseas. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The unnamed protagonist in Jack London's 'To Build a Fire' gets into trouble while hiking in the frozen Yukon with his dog. Widely considered to be London’s best short story, 'To Build a Fire' captures the cold with painful accuracy. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cost of rail travel for more than 100 managers has also risen since relocation to MediaCity in Salford QuaysThe suspicion that British Airways and Virgin Trains would be among the beneficiaries of the BBC's move to Salford appears to be born out by figures on travel costs published this week.In... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As a member of Hollywood royalty, a fashion icon and an Academy Award-winning actress, Anjelica Huston has led a full life -- so much so that she's taking two books to tell her story.As a member of Hollywood royalty, a fashion icon and an Academy Award-winning actress, Anjelica Huston has led a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Matt Cowdery, Hachette's representative in the GCC, reflects on several publishing issues impacting the region including importation certificates, the Arab Spring and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"City of Night" was not the first overtly gay-themed book but it may be the most unapologetic, a searing screed of life on the edge.I spent part of Wednesday afternoon at UCLA, on a panel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of John Rechy’s novel “City of Night,” newly reissued to commemorate the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelist Scott Turow's 'Identical' is a compulsively readable crime story about brothers, feuding families and a long-ago murder.Over the course of nine novels, Scott Turow's Kindle County has become one the best-known settings in American literature. While fictional locations are not uncommon... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In our increasingly global society, books that compare and illuminate the worlds’ faiths can prove useful tools in fostering tolerance and cooperation. Today, with events in the Middle East still at center stage, understanding Islam in the context of other faiths dominates the field. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James McBride takes liberties as he visits the story of white abolitionist John Brown through the eyes of a young slave in 'The Good Lord Bird.'John Brown, the white abolitionist who sought to free black slaves with the barrel of a gun, is a recurring character in American literature. He's one... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lawrence Osborne's 'The Wet and the Dry' is a paean to drinking, a travelogue unfolding largely through the Islamic states of the Middle East and a memoir of sorts."He who makes a beast of himself," Samuel Johnson famously observed, "gets rid of the pain of being a man." His subject is, of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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