Wednesday, February 24, 2016

SAFFIYYA MOHAMMED: ABC's "Quantico" Suffers from Fake Diversity

I have not watched the show.

Favorite Quotes - Sinclair Lewis, "It Can't Happen Here"

Harold Finch from CBS's "Person of Interest"
reading It Can't Happen Here
The first Sinclair Lewis novel I read (heard on CDs, actually) was Dodsworth. Some satirical passages were entertaining, but I never felt like I learned/felt/thought anything profound. Frederic Rich's Christian Nation quoted from Lewis's book It Can't Happen Here, so I decided to read it. Overall, it's a vigorous defense of Liberalism from Fascism and Communism, yet it does allow room for criticism of Liberalism. I'm excerpting some lengthy passages from the book, the text of which is available for free online. I've prefaced each passage with a header. So just like al-Imam al-Bukhari, my thoughts are in the headings and the passages I've chosen to excerpt.

The University of California system produced a reading guide which looks really interesting. Also, Donald Trump's campaign has sparked new interest in the novel.

For more thoughts on fascism, read Umberto Eco's essay on Ur-Fascism. Also, check out my other blog entries tagged fascism.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Friday, January 15, 2016

Feminism in Caleb Carr's "The Angel of Darkness"

I read Caleb Carr's The Alienist for a book club, and I'm almost done with its sequel, The Angel of Darkness. It has some great material to help people understand some aspects of feminism. One of the characters, Sara Howard, explains to Stevie, the novel's narrator and a street kid in the care of her colleague, why society's attitude towards women (misogyny) may explain the behavior of the murder suspect, Elspeth Hunter, they are investigating and people's attitudes towards her. The passage begins on page 437 and continues for a few pages.




Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Dancing is a Sin: Two One-Woman Plays from Egypt - Jan 14, Boston Performance, Streamed Live & Archived


h/t M. Lynx Qualey at Arab Lit.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Favorite Quote: The Attorney-General in Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities"

The full text of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities is available online. I listened to an unabridged performance. The book should also be in your local library.

Imagine Sam Waterston of Law & Order, who as Manhattan's District Attorney wanted perps to do hard time for jaywalking, playing the role of Attorney-General prosecuting Charles Darnay for treason against the "serene, illustrious, excellent and so forth, prince, our Lord the King!"

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Review: Christian Nation by Frederic C Rich

Frederic C. Rich retired from one of the United States's largest law firms. He also found time to write a speculative fiction (by now, nearly alternative history) novel set in our time about the takeover, via election, of the United States by Christian dominionists and reconstructionists.

The author maintains a website with more information about the book and a list of questions for discussion. You can search for the book at your local independent book store or at a library near you.

Monday, November 16, 2015

To Read - "The Gulf - High Culture/Hard Labor" edited by Andrew Ross

The Gulf Labor Artists Coalition maintains a website and a Twitter account. Sign a petition to the Guggenheim Foundation.

Andrew Ross, the editor, is a Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University in New York City.

I have not read the book.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Ask NBC to Hire Iman Zawahry to Direct an Episode of "Master of None"


Hey guys! My friend Lexi Alexander (first female director of a Marvelfilm) helped start a Twitter campaign to have me...
Posted by Iman Zawahry on Thursday, November 12, 2015
Master of None is a Netflix original series.

Check out my interview with Iman from November 30, 2012.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Review: From Makka to Las Vegas: Critical Theories in Architecture and Sanctity by Ali Abd al-Ra`uf

Yomna al-Saeed wrote a review in English of an Arabic book. The review was published at onislam.net on September 21, 2015. The book's title is

 من مكة إلى لاس ڤيجاس
أطروحات نقدية في العمارة و القداسة

which I've translated to From Makka to Las Vegas: Critical Theories in Architecture and Sanctity. Its author is علي عبد الرؤوف Ali Abd al-Ra'uf. It was published in 2014.

To Read: "What Is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic" by Shahab Ahmed

BloombergView.com on September 20, 2015 published an article by Noah Feldman about Shahab Ahmad and his book What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic, scheduled for publication in December 2015. Shahab Ahmed died in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States on September 17, 2015.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Book Review: "The Heroine Next Door" by Zeena Nackerdien

Sheri Hoyte reviewed The Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien for BlogCritics.com on September 8, 2015.

The book has an official website. You can buy the book from the publisher.

In her day job, Zeena Nakerdien is a real-life scientist, and she's got a non-fiction book published on Type II diabetes.
I have not read the book.

Review: Being German, Becoming Muslim: Race, Religion, and Conversion in the New Europe by Esra Özyürek

Aysegul Kayaoglu reviewed Being German, Becoming Muslim: Race, Religion, and Conversion in the New Europe by Esra Özyürek. It was published in the London School of Economics Review of Books blog on June 5, 2015.

Panelists, including author Esra Özyürek, discussed the book on January 21, 2015.
Search for the book in a library near you using Worldcat.org.

I have not read the book.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Review: Ummakkuttiyude Kunjikinaavukal by B. M. Suhara

Do you read Malayalam (Kairali) or know someone who does? Meena T. Pillai reviewed Ummakkuttiyude Kunjikinaavukal by B. M. Suhara. The review was published in The Hindu of September 17, 2015.
The Hindu has many columns tagged Malayalam literature.

I have not read the book.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Review: Islam in Liberalism by Joseph Massad

Anna Provitola and Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins reviewed Joseph Massad's book Islam in Liberalism.

I have not read the book. There is more information at the publisher's site, and you can search for a copy at your local library on worldcat.org.