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A passionate personal journey through two cultures in conflict
Any carping about this being an instant book should be quelled when readers actually encounter Ansary's considered prose prose he himself contrasts to the e-mailed commentary he fired off on September 12 that found its way to millions of readers around the world (including FSG editorial). The e-mail, printed here in an appendix, included such comments as "When you think `Taliban,' think `Nazis.' When you think `Bin Laden,' think `Hitler.' And when you think `the people of Afghanistan,' think `the Jews in the concentration camps.' " Ansary, the son of a Pashtun Afghan father and Finnish-American mother, lived as a Muslim outside of Kabul until the early '60s, when he left on scholarship to attend an American high school, eventually going on to college and becoming an educational writer ("if you have children, they have probably read or used some product I have edited or written") with a family of his own in San Francisco. This book chronicles, with calm insight and honesty, Ansary's feelings at all points: his childhood spent within his "clan" ("our group self was just as real as our individual selves, perhaps more so"), a narrative of his often fascinating 1980 trip ("Looking for Islam") throughout the Muslim world that makes up the bulk of the book, and dissections of the differing paths taken by his sister, brother and himself. While Ansary's political insights can be detached or perhaps purposefully aloof his descriptions of having lived in and identified alternately with the West and the Islamic world are utterly compelling. (Apr.) Forecast: Ansary made the rounds of talk shows after September 11 and should be in for another stint upon publication. Look for a bestselling run that will be partially correlated, unfortunately, with the level of fighting in Afghanistan. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Gregory Sovetts
reviewed West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story on June 28, 2016
West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story
This book was a comfort because it was not an article you could read in 20 minutes claiming to reveal some big truth - articles like these are so ubiquitous the millennial's internet world. Instead, this book is a full-fledged story about one man's journey towards finding identity, community and belonging within two vastly different cultures, especially amidst growing Islamophobia in America. "West of Kabul, East of New York" is bookended by Ansary's reaction to 9/11 and is filled in the middle with his journey towards a cohesive American-Afghanistani identity. Ansary meanders in his storytelling sometimes but in the end it all comes together. He shares the answers (or more so, non-answers - which I think are much more useful!) he's learned throughout his life. Granted, this is only one man's point of view, so he's likely missing a lot of the picture, but that doesn't lessen his experiences or his interpretations of them.
I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to understand a different point of view and a brief history of a culture that is so quickly judged by the media and the world.
Below are some of my favorite quotes:
"...human relationships are the only things that are utterly irreplaceable" - pg. 206
"For all of us, surrendering to diversity is probably the only plausible path left to attaining unity. The international community is supposedly committed to helping [Afghanistan] rebuild, but the lost world will not be reconstituted. Whatever rises from the rubble will be something new, and I suspect I may not have to decide who I am in order to take some part in this impending Afghanistan, because I am a kaleidoscope of parts now - an so is Afghanistan. So is the world, when you get right down to it." - pg. 285
"So you never know. That's what I have concluded. Even the past can change, depending on what happens next -- or at least the meaning of the past can change, which is what counts. Broken friendships can turn out to have been everlasting. Weakness can turn out to have been strengths. The pattern is never visible until it's over -- and it's never over. Endings don't exist." - pg. 300
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Add West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story, The day after the World Trade Center was destroyed, Tamim Ansary sent an anguished e-mail to twenty friends, discussing the attack from his perspective as an Afghan American. The message reached millions. Born to an Afghan father and American mother, Ansa, West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
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Add West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story, The day after the World Trade Center was destroyed, Tamim Ansary sent an anguished e-mail to twenty friends, discussing the attack from his perspective as an Afghan American. The message reached millions. Born to an Afghan father and American mother, Ansa, West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story to your collection on WonderClub |