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More copies of this ISBN:

Infidel

by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Infidel Cover

ISBN13: 9780743289696
ISBN10: 0743289692
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.

One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.

Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished — and sometimes reviled — political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat — demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan — she refuses to be silenced.

Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.

Review:

"A brave and elegant figure...an honest woman...No one who reads her [memoirs] will doubt the self-questioning and the rigorous honesty of her mind. Perhaps, as in Voltaire's short story 'L'IngÉnu,' it is that too much honesty is sometimes unpalatable, even if it is couched in civil terms...She has an open mind that has released itself from the old straitjacketed frame of reference of Right and Left, she is instinctively, deeply antiauthoritarian and she is unlikely to stick to straight ideological lines. She will go on asking difficult questions."

-- Isabella Thomas, The Observer

Review:

"Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of Europe's most controversial political figures and a target for terrorists. A notably enigmatic personality whose fierce criticisms of Islam have made her a darling of...conservatives...and...popular with leftists...Soft-spoken but passionate."

-- The Boston Globe

Review:

"A charismatic figure...of arresting and hypnotizing beauty...[who writes] with quite astonishing humor and restraint."

-- Christopher Hitchens

About the Author

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, was raised Muslim, and spent her childhood and young adulthood in Africa and Saudi Arabia. In 1992, Hirsi Ali came to the Netherlands as a refugee. She earned her college degree in political science and worked for the Dutch Labor party. She denounced Islam after the September 11 terrorist attacks and now serves as a Dutch parliamentarian, fighting for the rights of Muslim women in Europe, the enlightenment of Islam, and security in the West.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction

Part I: My Childhood

Chapter 1: Bloodlines

Chapter 2: Under the Talal Tree

Chapter 3: Playing Tag in Allah's Palace

Chapter 4: Weeping Orphans and Widowed Wives

Chapter 5: Secret Rendezvous, Sex, and the Scent of Sukumawik

Chapter 6: Doubt and Defiance

Chapter 7: Disillusion and Deceit

Chapter 8: Refugees

Chapter 9: Abeh

Part II: My Freedom

Chapter 10: Running Away

Chapter 11: A Trial by the Elders

Chapter 12: Haweya

Chapter 13: Leiden

Chapter 14: Leaving God

Chapter 15: Threats

Chapter 16: Politics

Chapter 17: The Murder of Theo

Epilogue: The Letter of the Law

Acknowledgments

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
julieb43, September 19, 2008 (view all comments by julieb43)
This is quite an inspirational and controversial memoir. Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes her life story with passion and conviction. She courageously stands by her beliefs despite her colleague's murder and death threats against her for speaking out against Islam.

Ali describes her evolution from religiously brain-washed youth and adolescence to her gradual yearning for freedom of thought and experience, which culminate in her flight to Holland and settlement in the West.

Anyone who believes in free speech and democracy will applaud Ali's fierce determination to uphold these rights. It's a shame that she must live under constant protection from fundamentalist Muslims who would seek to silence her.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780743289696
Author:
Hirsi Ali, Ayaan
Publisher:
Free Press
Foreword:
Hitchens, Christopher
Author:
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Subject:
Political
Subject:
Women
Subject:
General Biography
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
Refugees
Subject:
Politicians
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
April 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
361
Dimensions:
8.42x5.49x.97 in. .80 lbs.
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