Helpful Score: 3
Very enjoyable read which immerses you in the culture of Iraqi Americans in the modern day. A mystery, romance, and history lesson all rolled together. Each chapter begins with a mini-chapter which weaves a "moralless tale of Abelrahman Salahadin" thus unfolding a folk tale alongside the novel. Very well written
Helpful Score: 1
This book is ALMOST too good to give away. An unmarried almost middle-aged Arab-American runs a restaurant (LOTS of food talk!) in Los Angeles.
Helpful Score: 1
I almost hate to give this one away. It's one of those books where the food figures as prominently as the characters. The main character is an almost 40 year old, never married Arab American who co-owns a restaurant. GREAT BOOK!
Loved this! Five stars from me. It's a book that I'm going to keep for myself. This book evokes all your senses. I can't say too many books have done that for me. If you're looking for something relevant, imaginative, and insightful, get this book. It's a good book for Americans to read especially in this current political climate.
Author Diana Abu-Jabar's Sirine, the blonde green-eyed, American-born half Iraqi heroine, is the chef of a small Middle Eastern restaurant in Los Angeles, popular with university students and exiled immigrants. Crescent is a love story between Sirine and Han, a handsome exiled Iraqi intellectual longing for the country he can longer visit. But this story is more than your typical girl meets boy love story. It's about community, making a new life in a foreign country, longing, loss, feasts and fables. I felt changed after I read this book. That to me is a hallmark of a great book. The descriptions of the food, making of the food, the dinners all made me so hungry. My only complaint is that the author should have included some of the delectable recipes from the story in the book.
Author Diana Abu-Jabar's Sirine, the blonde green-eyed, American-born half Iraqi heroine, is the chef of a small Middle Eastern restaurant in Los Angeles, popular with university students and exiled immigrants. Crescent is a love story between Sirine and Han, a handsome exiled Iraqi intellectual longing for the country he can longer visit. But this story is more than your typical girl meets boy love story. It's about community, making a new life in a foreign country, longing, loss, feasts and fables. I felt changed after I read this book. That to me is a hallmark of a great book. The descriptions of the food, making of the food, the dinners all made me so hungry. My only complaint is that the author should have included some of the delectable recipes from the story in the book.
Wonderfully written with such vivid culinary imagery that you can't wait to try the recipes the author's included at the end of the book. Each chapter begins with a section from a folk tale and sets a beautiful tone for the book. The love story is very innocent, especially since the man and woman are 39 and older, but in the end it's very sweet. This book is not for those readers who need non stop action, but I found it to be a very enjoyable read.
written by Diana Abu-Jaber, here's what it says on the books flap:
....."Thirty-nine-year old Sirine, never married, lives with a devoted uncle and an adoring dog named King Babar in the Persian and Arab-American community of Los Angeles known as Irangeles. She works as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, her passions aroused only by cooking--until an unbearably handsome Arabic literature professor starts dropping by for a little home cooking. Falling in love with Hanif brings Sirine's world to a boil--stirring up memories of her parents and questions about her own identity as an Arab American.
....."Thirty-nine-year old Sirine, never married, lives with a devoted uncle and an adoring dog named King Babar in the Persian and Arab-American community of Los Angeles known as Irangeles. She works as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, her passions aroused only by cooking--until an unbearably handsome Arabic literature professor starts dropping by for a little home cooking. Falling in love with Hanif brings Sirine's world to a boil--stirring up memories of her parents and questions about her own identity as an Arab American.
