Books and Publications
Kabul Beauty School:
An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
When Deborah Rodriguez decides to travel to Afghanistan in 2002 after the fall of the Taliban, she has little idea of how much her life is about to change. Intending to treat wounds and broken limbs as a nurse’s assistant, she soon finds that her skills as a hairdresser are in much higher demand, setting the premise for her nonfiction book Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil (Random House, Dec. 2007, $14.95). Read Samantha Leal's review.
Spanking the Donkey:
Dispatches from the Dumb Season
For those familiar with Hunter S. Thompson’s Gonzo journalism and Timothy Crouses’s Boys on the Bus, Matt Taibbi’s Spanking the Donkey is nothing new—he’s just another politically sentient drug abuser mixed up in a presidential campaign. With Donkey, he pens a scathing critique of the U.S. political system and the media that writes for it. That said, Taibbi does bring something to the equation that neither Thompson nor Crouse ever did—culture shock and a deep love for Mother Russia. After 10 years of living, working, and writing in Russia, Taibbi returns home to the U.S., on the brink of the Iraq War. Read Liz Lyon's review.
The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa
Listen to NPR's interview with Josh Swiller, author of The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa, about his time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia. Swiller, a Yale University graduate, was born with a moderate hearing loss and was legally deaf by the age of four. When he traveled to Zambia to work for the Peace Corps in the mid-1990s, Swiller found a world where his deafness wasn't central to his identity. Visit Josh's website to read the prologue of The Unheard.
The 99
The 99 is a comic that features characters with super powers based on the concept of Allah's 99 attributes, including wisdom and generosity, as taught in the Koran. Read Marie-Helene Rousseau's article "As Villains or Heroes, Muslims Star in New U.S. Comics: Fights over fundamentalism, and a dearth of role models, are driving forces."
Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century
The massive 596-page publication, Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century, developed from WorldChanging.com, a Seattle-based website that provides tools, tips, and ideas for “building a better future.” But “worldchanging” is bigger than the book or the URL. Read review.
Banker to the Poor
Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus
Chapter Four:
The Stool Makers of Jobra Village
In 1976, I began visiting the poorest households in Jobra to see if I could help them directly in any way. There were three parts to the village: a Muslim, a Hindu, and a Buddhist section. When I visited the Buddhist section, I would often take one of my students, Dipal Chandra Barua, a native of the Buddhist section, along with me. Otherwise, a colleague, Professor H. I. Latifee, would usually accompany me. He knew most of the families and had a natural talent for making villagers feel at ease. » Continue reading
World Literature
Click here for recommended world literature books.
When You Can't Hit the Road, Hit the Books by Kelly Westhoff