I'jaam, An Iraqi Rhapsody

Introduction and First 18 pages from I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody (PDF 183 KB) Print Write a review Email this page Share this page		I'jaam An Iraqi Rhapsody Sinan Antoon Paperback - $11.95 $8.37 Save $3.58 (30%) Description Reviews In the News Excerpt Detailed info Reader Reviews Related News Sinan Antoon on Charlie Rose "Continued discussion about the war in Iraq on the five year anniversary of the invasion with Iraqi journalist Ali Fadhil and Sinan Antoon of New York University." -Charlie Rose Mar 19, 2008 Sinan Antoon's I'Jaam listed as a "Best of 2007" in the leading English-language daily news source in the Arab world, The Daily Star. -The Daily Star Dec 31, 2007 The Books You Must Read According to a Bunch of People I Know... "Laila Lalami: The novel I'd recommend is Sinan Antoon's I'jaam, which is a brilliant and innovative account of life under Saddam's rule." -Tod Goldberg Dec 17, 2007 MIDEAST-US: New Scholars Group Seen as Close to White House "'All of his prognostications about Iraq have failed,' said Sinan Antoon, a professor of Middle East studies at New York University." -Inter Press Service, Rome, Italy Nov 12, 2007 Punctuation is Next to Godliness "The most stunning piece of literature I’ve read in years. Antoon uses the prison narrative as a parable for how totalitarian government affects the individual psyche as well as the populace as a whole. The poetry background of the author is evident in his loving use of language as well as the lyrical imagery of the periodic hallucinatory dreams. Layered with meaning and stunning in its incisiveness, I’jaam ranks up there with Kafka and Orwell in my opinion." -Laura, Attack of the 50 Foot Book Oct 24, 2007 The Poet of Baghdad "Like many exiled writers from the contemporary Arab world (Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, Syrian poet Adonis), an elusive homeland has always been on Sinan Antoon's mind. Antoon left Baghdad in 1991 after the first Gulf War to study in the U.S. Now an associate professor of Arab-Islamic culture at New York University, he returned to his bedeviled hometown for the first time in the spring of 2003, to co-direct the anguished documentary About Baghdad, following the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq." -Tim Kindseth, Time Oct 18, 2007 Sinan Antoon "When the Bush administration first started threatening to invade Iraq, many Americans had little idea of what life inside Iraq was like. Unfortunately, the novel I'jaam, which takes place in Iraq in the 1980s, had not yet been published in English. Reading it reveals the torture, brutality, and complete control that Iraqis endured under Saddam Hussein's rule." -Rhena Tantisunthorn, Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages Oct 24, 2007 Sinan Antoon interviewed on KPFA's Voices of the Middle East and North Africa Poet and author Sinan Antoon discusses his book I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody on KPFA's Voices of the Middle East and North Africa. -KPFA 94.1, kpfa.org Aug 22, 2007 Author Sinan Antoon comments on Arabic cultural ignorance "The other day Sinan Antoon was expressing his outrage that the trashy novel by Saudi writer (influenced by not literature but by US trashy TV shows), the Girls of Riyadh (by Raja' As-Sani`) is coming out in an English translation by a major US/UK publisher. They just have no clue how to navigate through Arab culture because they write about it without knowing Arabic, so rely on people who also don't know Arabic to guide them through Arabic culture." -The Angry Arab News Service Aug 18, 2007 Sinan Antoon interviewed by KCBS Author Sinan Antoon interviewed on his novel and life in Iraq, under Saddam Hussein and after the US invasion. -KCBS