Salvaging the shipwreck of humanity in Amin Maalouf’s Adrift
Maalouf draws a line from pivotal years in Middle Eastern history to some of the most pressing dilemmas currently facing humanity.
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Dismantlings and Exile
On my recent trip to the Mission at San Luis Obispo, I recognized the abandoned base where in the past the statue of Junipero Serra, had stood in its glory.
Poetic Exploration of Illness Conveys Trauma
I am waiting for the Tunisian American writer Leila Chatti to tell me, in her own words, in her debut collection of poetry, Deluge, about women in Islam, but she is telling me about blood instead.
From Lockdown to 4 Indies in a Week — Why Cinema Matters
During four months of lockdown in Bristol, West England, UK, what I had perhaps missed the most were theatres and movie houses. I was able to read and to walk in parks almost every day. But I missed new motion pictures and the experience of watching stories unfurl together in…
Algiers, the Black Panthers & the Revolution
While Elaine Mokhtefi worked devotedly for the Black Panthers, the men who ran it were, it turned out, deeply flawed.
Why Non-Arabs Should Read Hisham Matar’s “The Return”
Jordan Elgrably finds that the family memoir of a Libyan American is one that we can all identity with.
American Sniper—a Botched Film That Demonizes Iraqis
Is it too much to ask that a movie set during the Second Gulf War convey something meaningful about Iraq? Jordan Elgrably A week before the Oscars—on Valentine’s Day in fact—I finally forced myself to go out and watch the new hit movie from Clint Eastwood. I had…