A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans - Hardcover

Persis M. Karim; Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807614432 ISBN 13: 9780807614433

Publisher: George Braziller Inc., 1999

Synopsis

This collection is the first published anthology of writings by Iranian immigrants and first generation Iranian Americans.

This collection is the first published anthology of writings by Iranian immigrants and first generation Iranian Americans. Wide ranging and deeply personal, these pieces explore the Iranian community's continuing struggle to understand what it means to be Iranian in America. The selections come together to present a rich, humanizing portrait of a growing community Americans tend to view negatively. Many are intimate reflections on the pain of being alienated from the language, history, and geography of one's childhood. Others grapple with the complexities of cultural and personal identity. Iranian Americans, like any other immigrant community, must face the ongoing negotiation between past and present, their native home and their adopted home. A World Between gives voice to their unique and moving stories.

About this title

About the Authors

Persis M. Karim was born in the United States to an Iranian father and a French mother. She received a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami has lived in the United States since 1984. He is an assistant professor of Persian and Persian literature at New York University.

Reviews

The 1979 Iranian revolution catalyzed the migration of more than one million Iranians to the U.S. The writings of the first generation of immigrants reveal their common "sense of alienation and 'in-betweenness,' " according to editor Khorrami. The result is that an impression of bleaknessAeven bitternessAand mourning pervades this collection of original poems, short stories and transcripts of videotaped interviews with Iranian-American students conducted at UC-Berkeley. Zara Houshmand's poem "I Pass" exposes the universal dilemma of the outsider: "I hold the cards close to my chest;/ I bluff./ You call./ I pass." Likewise, Laleh Khalili's poem "Defeated" recounts how many immigrants "slowly unlearned [their] ancestry" and "lost" themselves. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet's story "Martyrdom Street" describes a woman coming back to consciousness after an Iraqi bombing of an Iranian post office, next to "a man's dismembered hand, beautiful with long artistic fingers, capable of painting masterpieces or composing epics." This woman "survives," but loses the use of her own left hand and watches helplessly as her marriage becomes a casualty of war. Though too bleak to be read in one sitting, these stories and poems are eloquent testimony to the eminent desirability of peace.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

paper 0-8076-1445-9 A World Between ($30.00; paper $18.50; May; 286 pp.; 0-8076-1443-2; paper 0-8076-1445-9): This generous anthology includes 15 stories, all previously unpublished, about the condition of exile and sense of strangeness in a strange land experienced both by Americans of Iranian descent and Iranians uprooted by either the Revolution of 1979 or the (198088) Iraqi Warand, most affectingly, about their endurance of vilification from Americans who consider all Iranians barbarians or terrorists. The stories vary from simplistic argument (Nazarin Sioshansis The Suffocating Sense of Injustice) to plaintive episodes (Nahid Rachlins Search and especially Farnoosh Moshiris The Bricklayer). A fine idea for a book, expertly realized. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

While many themes in this collection echo typical immigrant experiences, most of the contributions offer unusual glimpses into a lesser-known and often stereotyped ethnic group. The majority of the more than one million Iranian Americans left their homeland after the 1979 events that brought down the Shah and ushered in a new fundamentalist order. This anthology includes stories, essays, and poems by more than 30 first- and second-generation Iranian Americans, set against the backdrop of the Islamic revolution in Iran and refugee life in America. Charming and deeply personal, the writings often reflect on the pain of alienation and cultural struggle. The diversity of the contributors is noteworthy, ranging from 14-year-old Sharif, whose poem "My Father's Shoes" describes the pain of exile, to Persian poet and New York University professor Mohammad Khorrami. This first-ever collection of writings in English by Iranian American literary talents is highly recommended for most libraries.AAli Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: George Braziller Inc.
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807614432
• ISBN 13: 9780807614433
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224