Shelley A. (shelley) - , reviewed Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in American and American in Iran on
Helpful Score: 2
This is a wonderful story about an Iranian-American woman who went to Tehran as a journalist. She talks about life there and her childhood in the US.
Patty P. (Patouie) -
Helpful Score: 2
The perspective truly worked for me: Moaveni is an American, yet since she is raised in a community of Iranians who have settled in California, she sees herself as Persian, and imagines that going to Tehran will feel like coming home. Once there, she struggles mightily both to fit in and to understand and retain her own identity. The book does not spend much time on the religious aspects of Iranian culture, concentrating more on the social and physical ramifications of being a woman behind the veil, and all the adaptations people have made to be able to live with the rules. There are details I wouldn't have thought of, such as how jogging is nearly impossible because the veil doesn't allow the free flow of oxygen, or how naming Iran as part of the "axis of evil" effected the lives of individual Iranians in specific ways.
Elaine R. (readingrat) reviewed Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in American and American in Iran on + 74 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book tells the story of a girl whose parents left Iran just before the 1979 revolution. She grows up in America, goes to college, learns more about Iran, then goes to work in Iran as a foreign correspondent for Time magazine. This is the story of her trying to find her place in this world.
Tracey R. (tratz) reviewed Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in American and American in Iran on + 102 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
At first I had a hard time getting into this book - it talks about the politics a lot. I did enjoy the personal story in between though. It also gave me a better perspective on what is happening in the Middle East and how the people get lost in the politics, whether it is in Iran or the US!
Madge C. (dmconn1) reviewed Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in American and American in Iran on + 234 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The author writes very descriptively, and intellectually. It is always interesting to read about different cultures than the one I live in. With that said, I found it very hard to conceive why she was trying to live her life in Iran when she was born an American with a strong support system in the U.S.A. She calls herself an "Iranian in America", and an "American in Iran". The life she led in Iran was much harder, and so many layers (physically and emotionally) had to be worn just to survive. Her parents made a decision to leave their birth country to come to the U.S. for a life they felt would be better for their daughter. I guess she just had to live it for herself to know which would suit her better.
Some parts of the book were quick reads, and other parts were slow and tedious. In the end she did give me a better insight though as to what people of middle eastern descent have had to go through in the U.S. post 911. She is an American just like I am, and should be treated no differently.
Some parts of the book were quick reads, and other parts were slow and tedious. In the end she did give me a better insight though as to what people of middle eastern descent have had to go through in the U.S. post 911. She is an American just like I am, and should be treated no differently.
