The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran
Author: Hooman Majd
A revealing look at Iran by an American journalist with an insider’s access behind Persian walls
The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, now an American citizen, Hooman Majd is, in a way, both 100 percent Iranian and 100 percent American, combining an insider’s knowledge of how Iran works with a remarkable ability to explain its history and its quirks to Western readers. In The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, he paints a portrait of a country that is fiercely proud of its Persian heritage, mystified by its outsider status, and scornful of the idea that the United States can dictate how it should interact with the community of nations.
With wit, style, and an unusual ability to get past the typical sound bite on Iran, Majd reveals the paradoxes inherent in the Iranian character which have baffled Americans for more than thirty years. Meeting with sartorially challenged government officials in the presidential palace; smoking opium with an addicted cleric, his family, and friends; drinking fine whiskey at parties in fashionable North Tehran; and gingerly self-flagellating in a celebration of Ashura, Majd takes readers on a rare tour of Iran and shares insights shaped by his complex heritage. He considers Iran as a Muslim country, as a Shiite country, and, perhaps above all, as a Persian one. Majd shows that as Shiites marked by an inferiority complex, and Persians marked by a superiority complex, Iranians are fiercely devoted to protecting their rights, a factor that has contributed to their intransigence over their nuclear programs. He points to the importance of the Persian view of privacy, arguing that the stability ofthe current regime owes much to the freedom Iranians have to behave as they wish behind “Persian walls.” And with wry affection, Majd describes the Persian concept of ta’arouf, an exaggerated form of polite self-deprecation that may explain some of Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s more bizarre public moments.
With unforgettable portraits of Iranians, from government figures to women cab drivers to reform-minded Ayatollahs, Majd brings to life a country that is deeply religious yet highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet with democratic and reformist traditions—an Iran that is a more nuanced nemesis to the United States than it is typically portrayed to be.
Publishers Weekly
In this critical but affectionate portrait of Iranian politics and culture, Majd, the Western-educated grandson of an ayatollah, delves into the very core of Iranian society, closely examining social mores and Farsi phrases to identify the Persian sensibility, which, Majd determines, cherishes privacy, praise and poetry. Nothing is too small or too sweeping for Majd to consider, and although he announces his allegiance to the former president Khatami, he remains scrupulously even-handed in assessing his successor Ahmadinejad, shedding light on the Iranian president's "obsession" with the Holocaust and penchant for windbreakers and why the two are (surprisingly) intertwined. The author's brisk, conversational prose is appealing; his book reads as if he is chatting with a smart friend, while strolling around Tehran, engaged in ta'arouf(an exaggerated form of self-deprecation key to understanding Persian society). Although Majd seems to gloss too quickly over realities that don't engage his interest-women's voices are only intermittently included-this failing scarcely mars this remarkable ride through what is often uncharted territory. (Oct.)
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Nader Entessar - Library Journal
Despite the centrality of Iran to American security concerns and the heavy coverage Iran receives in Western media, the country remains an enigma to most Americans. This is partly because many people in the United States tend to equate contemporary Iran with its theocracy and/or the vitriolic public pronouncements of its president. However, as journalist Majd's lucidly written book demonstrates, Iran is a complex society with a sizable educated middle class and a youthful population whose cultural sophistication and cosmopolitan outlook have become buried under the avalanche of propaganda emanating from the country's theocratic rulers and U.S. media commentators with a political agenda. Majd, the Western-educated and Western-reared son of a former diplomat during Mohammad Reza Shah's monarchy, is immersed in both the Iranian and the Western cultures and easily navigates between these two domains. Based on his visits to Iran and extensive conversations with Iranians from all walks of life, Majd's witty and captivating book makes it possible for a nonexpert to appreciate the multiple layers of sociocultural factors that define today's Iran. Highly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ6/1/08.]
Kirkus Reviews
A sort-of-insider's view of contemporary Iran, which views itself as David against the American Goliath. London-bred and used to British insularity, fluent enough in Farsi to pass as a native unadulterated by Western contact, the grandson of an ayatollah and son of an Iranian diplomat, New Yorker contributor Majd confesses to a frisson of nationalistic pride after the Iranian revolution of 1979, when the nation captured international headlines and for once became recognizable, even as it "ushered in an era of successful but much-feared Islamic fundamentalism." It is no small thing, he suggests, that in 30 years Iran has risen from backwater, tinhorn dictatorship to public enemy No. 1. Regardless of their politics, Iranians around the world take a not-so-secret pride in stymieing the efforts of the world's self-proclaimed sole superpower, and other Muslims, think well of the Islamic Republic precisely because, by their lights, it stands up for them against American expansionist designs. President and international bad guy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad deserves much credit for this; though a Holocaust denier and of nutty affect, he offers Muslims "hope that they could guide their own destiny wherever they were." Adds Majd, perhaps unhelpfully, most Muslims don't know from the Holocaust, "and men like Ahmadinejad know it." On another note, Iranians were famed for a couple of things before the radical-fundamentalist era, and in truth they "spend an awful lot of time pondering carpets and virtually no time thinking about cats." Do Westerners have anything to fear from Iran? Probably not from Ahmadinejad, who lacks religious credentials but outmaneuvered the theocrats with his belief that the messiah isjust around the corner-a view that many American politicians hold as well. A useful addition to the literature surrounding a suddenly influential nation. Agent: Lindsay Edgecombe/Levine Greenberg Literary Agency
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How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets
Author: Felix Dennis
An outspoken entrepreneurial dynamo reveals the secrets behind his self-made fortune
Starting as a college dropout with no family money, Felix Dennis made himself the sixty-fifth richest individual in the U.K. And had a blast in the process.
How to Get Rich, his #1 British bestseller, is different from any other book on the subject because Dennis isn't selling snake oil, investment tips, or motivational claptrap. Having already made his fortune, he merely wants to help readers embrace entrepreneurship—and learn from his successes and failures.
Dennis reveals, for example, why a regular paycheck is like crack cocaine; why being young, penniless, and inexperienced is a fine combination; why great ideas are vastly overrated; and why "ownership isn't the important thing, it's the only thing."
Part naked memoir, part contrarian manual, this book is invaluable for anyone willing to stare down failure and take a chance on not just getting rich, but very rich indeed!
Times (London)
Absorbing, provocative, and huge fun.
Financial Times
Well-founded advice based on hard-won experience.
Publishers Weekly
This is not your usual get-rich-quick manual. Though Dennis, a poet (When Jack Sued Jill: Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times) and the founder of a publishing empire (including Maxim magazine), wants to help the reader rank at least among the "lesser rich" (equal to a net worth of $30 million-$80 million by his definition), he isn't himself motivated by money. With his own fortune estimated at between $400 million and $900 million, he doesn't have to be. Instead, Dennis wants to demystify the money-getting process, and his straight-talking, honest advice makes a refreshing change in this oversaturated field. Using humorous examples from his own business life, Dennis's advice, from "The Five Most Common Start-Up Errors" to "The Power of Focus," might sound like conventional fare, but delivered in his signature bawdy, British style, it's altogether more entertaining-and more practical. Dennis highlights the right strategies and mindset to get readers their millions, but he won't air-brush his story or soften the bitter truth along the way. As he says, when it comes to acquiring wealth, "being a bit of a shit helps." (June)
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