Finding Home, Finding Normal and The Myth of Normal
Sheana Ochoa reviews the new book from Gabor Maté which suggests that much of what today has become normal is potentially traumatic.
Book Reviews
To Receive Asylum, You First Have to be Believed, and Accepted
Mischa Geracoulis reviews the new book from Dina Nayeri on refugees and asylum seekers who must be believed to get through the system.
Becoming Palestine Imagines a Liberated Future
Katie Logan reviews the latest book from Gil Hochberg, which studies Palestinian archives and artists while imagining a brighter future.
Salman Rushdie’s Victory City: a Novel in Search of an Empire
Pushcart winner Anis Shivani reviews the latest novel by Salman Rushdie, who survived a nightmarish knife attack at Chautauqua last summer.
Yemen War Survivors Speak in What Have You Left Behind?
Saliha Haddad reviews the English translation of Bushra al-Maqtari's book of oral histories on those who survived the war in Yemen.
White Torture Prison Interviews Condemn Solitary Confinement
Kamin Mohammadi (no relation) has read Narges Mohammadi's new book, even as the author sits in Evin Prison, unable to be with her family.
Arab Women’s War Stories, Oral Histories from Lebanon
Evelyne Accad reviews a new book on Lebanese women and war, a collection of oral stories told in Arabic and translated by Malek Abisaab.
Reading Iraq: Our Top 10 List of Iraqi Fiction
A list of must-read Iraqi fiction, from Ahmed Saadawi's "Frankenstein in Baghdad" to Sinan Antoon's "The Book of Collateral Damage."
The Watermelon Boys on Iraq, War, Colonization and Familial Love
Rachel Campbell finds that Ruqaya Izzidien's debut novel set in Iraq provides counter-narratives to the country's early 20th-century history.
Editor’s Picks: Magical Realism in Iranian Lit
Rana Asfour has selected four contemporary novels of Iranian literature for this special issue on Iran in TMR Weekly.
Sabyl Ghoussoub Heads for Beirut in Search of Himself
Adil Bouhelal reviews the new novel from the author of "Le Nez Juif" with its exploration of Lebanon from 1975 forward.
End of an Era: Al Saqi Bookshop in London Closes
Malu Halasa surveys the legacy of Al Saqi while also lamenting the end of Banipal Magazine and the retirement of the British Museum's Venetia Porter.
Mohamed Makhzangi Despairs at Man’s Cruelty to Animals
Saliha Haddad reviews the new translation of a major collection of short stories by the Egyptian author.
Fida Jiryis on Palestine in Stranger in My Own Land
Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer in Haifa, reviews the family memoir that evokes nearly a century of Palestinian trauma.
Football in the Middle East: State, Society, and the Beautiful Game
Justin Olivier Salhani reviews a new anthology on football and the Middle East just as the World Cup kicks off in Qatar.