Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson - Hardcover

Amber Frey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060799250 ISBN 13: 9780060799250

Publisher: Regan Books, 2005

Synopsis

The press has been filled with information and misinformation about the true nature of Islam. Hasan represents what is left out of the daily newspapers and explains why being a Muslim is not merely a matter of birth, but it is a matter of choice.

In the wake of 9–11, the activities of Osama Bin Laden and Hamas, and the most recent Gulf War, the western press has been filled with information and mis–information about the true nature of Islam. Is it a feudal misogynist belief system that is a threat to Western values? Is it an ideology of oppression? Or, is it a religion that is as varied as Christianity; a "big tent" that includes not only bomb–throwing ideologues, but also those committed to an authentic spirituality that embraces many of the values shared by the mainstream in Europe and America?

Why I am a Muslim is an attempt to grapple with these issues. Part memoir, part polemic, it represents the side of Islam that is left out of the daily newspapers. For Hasan, being a Muslim is not merely a matter of birth, but it is a matter of choice.

In seven chapters, she presents seven reasons why she is committed to Islam and why it is a viable spiritual option for anyone.

1. Because I was born Muslim.

2. Because Islam gives me a direct relationship with God.

3. Because Islam has a rich mystical tradition in Sufism.

4. Because Islam allows and expects me to make mistakes.

5. Because Islam is ethnically diverse.

6. Because Islam is a woman's religion.

7. Because being Muslim makes me a better American (and being American makes me a better Muslim).

About this title

About the Author

Amber Frey is a certified massage therapist and lives in Fresno, California. She has a daughter, Ayiana, and a son, Justin.

From Publishers Weekly

Any memoir based on the scandal of the moment must begin with a bang, and Frey's account of her relationship with Scott Peterson certainly does. The first seven pages race breathlessly through that first evening in November 2002 when she met Peterson on a blind date: flirting with him over dinner, splurging on gin & tonics, singing some tipsy karaoke duets and returning to Peterson's hotel for what she acknowledged the next day "felt like a one-night stand." Frey then proceeds to tell the story that is doubtless familiar to throngs of gossip hounds. She describes how Peterson seduced her with his charm, charisma and apparently paternal feelings towards her young daughter. Frey also details her growing suspicions about her mysterious new boyfriend, fears that were realized when a friend finally connected the dots for her and Frey learned that Peterson was in fact married, that his pregnant wife was missing and that he was the prime suspect in the case. From there, it was just a short step to becoming a police informant and, ultimately, the key witness against Peterson at his double murder trial. Frey includes all the sordid highlights: secret tape recordings, TV makeovers, nude photographs, personal betrayals, and, always, the merciless hounding of the press. Frey portrays herself as an honest, decent young woman (the book is liberally sprinkled with Bible quotations) caught up in the whirlwind of a real-life melodrama. As forgettable as it was inevitable, mercifully short on biographical background, Frey's memoir delivers all the behind-the-scenes details that readers will want as the players in the Peterson saga quit the public stage.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Regan Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0060799250
• ISBN 13: 9780060799250
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224