Synopses & Reviews
Joumana Haddad is angry. She finds the West's portrayal of Arab women appalling. And the image projected by many Middle Eastern women can be infuriating as well. "Being an Arab today means you need to be a hypocrite," Haddad boldly states in I Killed Scheherazade. And "We constantly and obsessively think about sex, but dare not talk about it. We rid ourselves of one so-called abomination with one hand, then practice intellectual debauchery, which is much worse, with the other."
In I Killed Scheherazade Haddad challenges prevalent notions of identity and womanhood in the Middle East and speaks of her own intellectual development and the liberating effect of literature on her life, ultimately arguing that every woman has not only the right but the duty to ignore social, political, and sexual expectations and be true to herself. Fiery and candid, this is a provocative exploration of what it means to be an Arab woman today that will enlighten and inform a new international feminism.
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"The Carrie Bradshaw of Beirut." Sunday Telegraph
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"The Oprah of Lebanon" T: The New York Times Magazine
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"Provocative and sensual." Huffington Post
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"Beirut's body language pioneer." Washington Post
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"It takes genius to attain such radical freedom." Etel Adnan
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"In this courageous book Joumana Haddad breaks down the taboo of the Silent Absent Arab Woman. Scheherazade has to die to be able to speak her true self, to tell her own story: that is, to become a human being." Elfriede Jelinek, winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature
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"Joumana Haddad cannot be intimidated. This book is a lesson of courage for all those who fight to go beyond their own limits and chains." Roberto Saviano, author, Gomorrah
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"Sometimes, a revolution erupts when one person says, 'Thatthat is not me.' Joumana Haddad is a revolutionary, this book is the manifesto. Read it or be left behind." Rabih Alameddine, author, The Hakawati and Koolaids: The Art of War
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"A very courageous and illuminating book about women in the Arab world. It opens our eyes, destroys our prejudices and is very entertaining." —Mario Vargas Llosa, author and Nobel Laureate
Synopsis
For centuries the heroine of The Arabian Nights, Scheherazade, defined the Arab womanuntil Joumana Haddad, an Arab woman herself, had had enough. Haddad angrily challenges prevalent notions of identity and womanhood in the Middle East in this intrepid exploration. While she finds the West’s dominant portrayal of Arab women appalling, she finds the image projected by many Middle Eastern women to be infuriating as well. She discusses her intellectual development and the liberating effect of literature on her life, and in the process she transcends religious and cultural perspectives. Ultimately she argues that every woman has not only the right but the duty to ignore social, political, and sexual expectations and be true to herself. Fiery and candid, this is a provocative exploration of what it means to be an Arab woman today that will enlighten and inform a new international feminism. For Haddad, Scheherazade is dead, and the time has come for Arab women to tell their own stories.
Synopsis
Joumana Haddad is angry. She finds the Wests portrayal of Arab women appalling and the image projected by many Middle Eastern women infuriating. Being an Arab today means you need to be a hypocrite,” Haddad boldly states. We constantly and obsessively think about sex but dare not talk about it.” In I Killed Scheherazade, Haddad challenges prevalent notions of Arab womanhood and, in the process, shatters the centuries-old stereotype of Scheherazade, the virgin heroine of The Arabian Nights who won the kings affections. Fiery and candid, this provocative exploration of what it means to be an Arab woman today will enlighten and inform a new international feminism.
About the Author
Joumana Haddad is an award-winning poet, translator, magazine publisher, and journalist. Cultural editor for an Arab newspaper, in 2008 she launched the Arab world's first erotic cultural magazine, Jasad (Body), which made international headlines and caused her to be dubbed "the Carrie Bradshaw of Beirut." She lives in Lebanon.