Library Journal - Audio
06/01/2022
In this illuminating, deeply affecting work, Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran) compellingly argues that literature can bring people together across the political divide. Presented as a series of letters written to her late father—a construct all the more moving in the audio version since the author serves as the narrator—Nafisi discusses important, sometimes divisive texts written by the likes of Salman Rushdie, Zora Neale Hurston, Elias Khouri, Margaret Atwood, and James Baldwin. Nafisi weaves in her own experiences and those of her friends and family, who have lived under Iranian authoritarian regimes before and after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She shares many of her father's experiences as a mayor of Tehran; he was jailed in 1963 and held for four years on trumped-up charges from which he was later exonerated. Nafisi also discusses the prejudice, closed-mindedness, and authoritarianism she sees in "safe" democracies like the U.S. While some listeners might find the references to her father repetitive, Nafisi expertly pairs her family's experiences with the literature she is analyzing. VERDICT Most listeners will be inspired by this testament to the healing power of reading and writing.—Beth Farrell
APRIL 2022 - AudioFile
The celebrated author of READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN narrates her audiobook in a deliberate, serious, and passionate manner. Listeners need to be aware that while she is an eloquent writer, she does read with a distinct Iranian accent. This works to her advantage when she discusses Iranian literature and places in Iran. The work is written as a series of letters—each concerns a different writer or writers—to her deceased father, the heroic former mayor of Tehran. Candidly, this conceit wears thin. That said, her ability to define how various writers chose to flaunt authority, write independently (fearlessly), and speak truth to power makes for an engrossing audiobook that will give listeners fresh appreciation for Rushdie, Atwood, Baldwin, and other writers around the world who wrote bravely. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 11/29/2021
“We need the truth that fiction offers us,” writes Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran) in this stunning look at the power of reading. Written from November 2019 through June 2020 as a series of letters to her late father, Nafisi’s reflections grapple with literature’s ability to counter oppression—as she writes, “Fiction subverts the absolutist mindset by defending the right of every individual to exercise their independence of mind and of heart.” Her close readings come in five sections: the first considers how Plato, Ray Bradbury, and Salman Rushdie all revealed the discomfort involved in seeking truth. Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, meanwhile, created powerful heroines who reclaimed their own stories, while empathy and complexity suffuse Nafisi’s discussion of war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via the works of David Grossman, Elliot Ackerman, and Elias Khouri. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is invoked in a discussion about the roles that “ordinary, often decent, people play in bringing about a totalitarian state,” and James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates offer lessons for coping with rage at racial injustice. Nafisi’s prose is razor-sharp, and her analysis lands on a hopeful note: “I really believe that books might not save us from death, but they help us live.” This excellent collection provokes and inspires at every turn. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"Nafisi moves effortlessly across the literary landscape. ... Nafisi has a talent for combining the academic and the everyday, the theoretical and the personal, and thanks to her deliberate and confident voice, the lessons will stick with us, too." — New York Times Book Review
"One of the remarkable things about Read Dangerously is the extent to which Nafisi’s father emerges as a vibrant and fully developed character, years after his death. She effortlessly resurrects his intellectual presence. ... Read Dangerously lives up to its audacious title, demonstrating the subversive and transformative power of literature. It should start many a book-based conversation." — The Progressive
"Thoughtful and insightful. ... Heartfelt. ... Because change can be a daunting process, we avoid 'reading dangerously.' But that is precisely what [Nafisi] calls on us to do." — Christian Science Monitor
"A passionate defense of literature as a pathway to freedom. It’s a perfect book for these frightening times." — Boston Globe (Best Books of 2022)
"Makes the compelling case that books can help confront societal challenges. ... Reminds us of the power of reading." — Time
"[A] stunning look at the power of reading. ... Nafisi's prose is razor-sharp, and her analysis lands on a hopeful note. ... This excellent collection provokes and inspires at every turn." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Impassioned. ... Eloquent essays on literature’s power to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." — USA Today
"Frequently and deftly shift[s] lanes between autobiography and literary analysis. ... Asks incisive questions about the intolerance within individuals. ... Natural, intimate. ... Writing to her departed father reinforces the mood of Nafisi's book, which turns to the power and example of the brave past and to a tradition of great books as solace and guide. With sensitivity and intelligence, it offers a new canon for the tyrannies of the present and the dystopian possibilities of the future." — Washington Post
"A stunningly beautiful and perceptive illustration of how we rethink our lives by looking for the mysteries behind the fault lines that kept us imprisoned. ... Ultimately, her story gives all of us hope." — Los Angeles Review of Books
"A passionate book. ... Shows the power of great works of literature to resist the dictatorial impulse of today's American politics. ... [Nafisi's] emphasis on the value of literature in teaching us not just how to change the world — but also ourselves — imparts a sense of urgency to the role of reading in the midst of today's disconnect and dysfunction." — NPR.org
"A contemporary treatise on oppression wherever it exists, Read Dangerously raises Nafisi to new heights. ... Illuminate[s] the lessons of literature at a time when the state of the world seems bleak. ... A political writer's brilliant attempt to understand historical and political events, as well as human nature." — New York Journal of Books
"To say it's timely would be an understatement." — Ms. magazine
"Reading remains a subversive activity. Great books, as Nafisi rightly claims, 'reflect and transcend the prejudices of the author as well as their time and place.' Count this one among them." — Toronto Star
"Nafisi’s book celebrates the power of books to humanize their readers, to embrace the values of curiosity, empathy, and decency. She reminds us that that power is often strongest in repressive societies in which reading is insurgency." — American Scholar
The Progressive
"One of the remarkable things about Read Dangerously is the extent to which Nafisi’s father emerges as a vibrant and fully developed character, years after his death. She effortlessly resurrects his intellectual presence. ... Read Dangerously lives up to its audacious title, demonstrating the subversive and transformative power of literature. It should start many a book-based conversation."
New York Times Book Review
"Nafisi moves effortlessly across the literary landscape. ... Nafisi has a talent for combining the academic and the everyday, the theoretical and the personal, and thanks to her deliberate and confident voice, the lessons will stick with us, too."
USA Today
"Impassioned. ... Eloquent essays on literature’s power to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
Christian Science Monitor
"Thoughtful and insightful. ... Heartfelt. ... Because change can be a daunting process, we avoid 'reading dangerously.' But that is precisely what [Nafisi] calls on us to do."
Ms. magazine
"To say it's timely would be an understatement."
Los Angeles Review of Books
"A stunningly beautiful and perceptive illustration of how we rethink our lives by looking for the mysteries behind the fault lines that kept us imprisoned. ... Ultimately, her story gives all of us hope."
New York Journal of Books
"A contemporary treatise on oppression wherever it exists, Read Dangerously raises Nafisi to new heights. ... Illuminate[s] the lessons of literature at a time when the state of the world seems bleak. ... A political writer's brilliant attempt to understand historical and political events, as well as human nature."
Time
"Makes the compelling case that books can help confront societal challenges. ... Reminds us of the power of reading."
Washington Post
"Frequently and deftly shift[s] lanes between autobiography and literary analysis. ... Asks incisive questions about the intolerance within individuals. ... Natural, intimate. ... Writing to her departed father reinforces the mood of Nafisi's book, which turns to the power and example of the brave past and to a tradition of great books as solace and guide. With sensitivity and intelligence, it offers a new canon for the tyrannies of the present and the dystopian possibilities of the future."
Toronto Star
"Reading remains a subversive activity. Great books, as Nafisi rightly claims, 'reflect and transcend the prejudices of the author as well as their time and place.' Count this one among them."
USA Today
"Impassioned. ... Eloquent essays on literature’s power to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
American Scholar
"Nafisi’s book celebrates the power of books to humanize their readers, to embrace the values of curiosity, empathy, and decency. She reminds us that that power is often strongest in repressive societies in which reading is insurgency."
Time
"Makes the compelling case that books can help confront societal challenges. ... Reminds us of the power of reading."
Library Journal
10/01/2021
A Duff Cooper Prize winner for Becoming Dickens, Oxford English professor Douglas-Fairhurst argues that for Dickens the emotionally tumultuous year of 1851 was The Turning Point that singularly shaped his oeuvre. A professor of Aegean civilization at the University of Bologna, Ferrera moves from Mesopotamia and Crete to China, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond to chronicle The Greatest Invention—writing. In I Was Better Last Night, Fierstein talks about being a cultural icon, gay rights activist, and four-time Tony Award-winning actor and playwright. Emmy Award-winning writer Galloway, who created the Reporter's famed Oscar Roundtables, revisits Madly in love Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, among the first global celebrities (75,000-copy first printing). In Keats, British literary critic Miller uses verse and epitaph, e.g., "Endymion," "Bright Star," to explore the life of the English Romantic and present him less as dreamer than subversive. In a book structured as a series of letters to her book-loving father, Nafisi urges us to Read Dangerously, addressing literature as both solace and subversive power that can challenge repressive politics; originally scheduled for August 2021 (75,000-copy first printing). Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director, and actor Polley offers six essays capturing moments of her life, from stage fright to risky childbirth to healing herself after traumatic injury by retraining her mind to Run Towards the Danger, i.e., the very things that triggered her recurrent symptoms. The creator of The Good Place and cocreator of Parks and Recreation, Schur offers How To Be Perfect as a laugh-out-loud guide to living not the good life but the better life (200,000-copy first printing). Lead singer of the Ronettes—remember Be My Baby?—Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Spector recounts professional collaboration with and marriage to Phil Spector, then fighting to reclaim her musical legacy and her life (75,000-copy first printing).
APRIL 2022 - AudioFile
The celebrated author of READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN narrates her audiobook in a deliberate, serious, and passionate manner. Listeners need to be aware that while she is an eloquent writer, she does read with a distinct Iranian accent. This works to her advantage when she discusses Iranian literature and places in Iran. The work is written as a series of letters—each concerns a different writer or writers—to her deceased father, the heroic former mayor of Tehran. Candidly, this conceit wears thin. That said, her ability to define how various writers chose to flaunt authority, write independently (fearlessly), and speak truth to power makes for an engrossing audiobook that will give listeners fresh appreciation for Rushdie, Atwood, Baldwin, and other writers around the world who wrote bravely. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
