ISIS and the Absurdity of War in the Age of Twitter
Jessica Proett reviews Salar Abdoh's empirical novel set during the days when ISIS was running loose across Iraq and Syria.
TMR Weekly
World Picks: July 2021
Travel the world, meet people, see great places, without ever leaving the comfort of your screen…well, in some cases you can go in person!
A New Book on Music, Palestine-Israel & the “Three State Solution”
TMR reviews a new book on Palestinian and Israeli musicians looks at the border zones and interstices of the conflict.
Q & A with Nili Belkind on “Music in Conflict” in Palestine-Israel
Musician and Middle East historian Mark LeVine interviews ethnomusicologist Nili Belkind on her new book profiling Palestinian and Israeli musicians.
Palestine in the World: “Palestine: A Socialist Introduction”
Jenine Abboushi reviews the recent anthology of essays on socialism in the context of Palestinian resistance.
Spare Me the Empathy Tantrum: Rafia Zakaria’s “Against White Feminism”
Myriam Gurba reviews a book that argues that some "white feminists accept the benefits conferred by white supremacy at the expense of people of color."
Arab Women and The Thousand and One Nights
Malu Halasa reviews a new anthology of Arab women writers on sex, love and lust, including "the leading lights of modern Arab fiction: Hanan al-Shaykh, Adhaf Soueif, Leila Slimani and Adania Shibli."
The Maps of Our Destruction: Two Novels on Syria
Rana Asfour reviews Faysal Khartash's Roundabout of Death and Zeyn Joukhadar's The Map of Salt and Stars.
War Diary: The End of Innocence
Arie Amaya-Akkermans investigates Agenda 1979: Imagine sitting at home in the presence of a handbook for destroying, bombing, maiming and injuring. The poet Etel Adnan features prominently.
I was a French Muslim—Memories of an Algerian Freedom Fighter
Mischa Geracoulis reviews the memoir from Algerian freedom fighter Mokhtar Mokhtefi.
Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt’s Roaring 20s
Selma Dabbagh reviews the story of Egypt's pioneering women performers and feminists, including Oum Khoulthum and Munira al-Maydiyya.
World Picks: May – June 2021
Travel the world, meet people, see great places, without ever leaving the comfort of your screen…welcome to the pandemic!
Why Mona Eltahawy Wants to Smash the Patriarchy
Egyptian author and feminist Mona Eltahawy publishes daily tweets calling out the patriarchy. Hiba Moustafa reviews her new book.
In Search of Knowledge, Mazid Travels to Baghdad, Jerusalem, Cairo, Granada and Córdoba
Reviewer Eman Quotah finds that Omaima Al-Khamis' "singular imagination shines through in an erudite and sensual tale that captures a complex moment in Islamic history."
Three North African Novels Dance Between Colonial & Postcolonial Worlds
BookFabulous' Rana Asfour delivers capsule reviews of three recent North African novels from Libya and Morocco.