Name: West of Kabul, East of New York
Rating: 3.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
ISBN: 9780312421519

Tamim Ansary

An Afghan American most recently known for an e-mail he wrote on his views on U.S. reprisals against Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks shares his experiences of Islam and the secular West, his feelings on Islamic militant religious fundamentalism, and his hopes for reconciliation between both civilizations. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

An Afghan American Story

West of Kabul, East of New York

Jeff Brown 

I really wanted to tell you that the Goodreads notes tells you the main points and I’ll give some final thoughts. But the notes greatly misrepresent the book. And it really ticks me off.

The notes say that 9-11 prompted this book. 9-11 is not mentioned until page 278, in the final small paragraph of the epilogue. I don’t really want to waste your time or my time telling you what this book is about if you don’t care. It’s not a great book, but it was ENLIGHTENING!

Oh, briefly..... the author’s father was the first Afghan to marry an American. Due to the father’s status in the government, the family moved into a compound outside of Kabul. Some things happened and the author went to the U.S. for high school and college.

While feeling detached from Islam and Afghanistan, he fell into some normal 70s anti-cultural groups in Portland and San Francisco. After a few years, needing a job, he got one for a newspaper that liked his interest in the Middle East. During this time, the author, who felt rather atheistic, but was willing to learn more about Islam, found out that his brother was deep into Islam. This was way before the Taliban, Al-Quaeda, or ISIS.

The author’s plan was to go into the Middle East and got all his paperwork — then the Iran hostage crisis began. He changed his plans and went into Morocco and North Africa, learning about Islam. When he was ready to go to Afghanistan and see his father for the first time time in many years, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan.

He then went to Istanbul, for the most important part of the book — pages 210-216, where he is explained Islam. While barbaric, even Sharia law makes sense in a community. Outside of Sharia law, there really is a beauty in the religion of Islam.

So he hurried home to SF and married his girlfriend. He’s still an atheist. His brother was in Pakistan and they hadn’t talked in 14 years. The author’s daughter was looking at colleges.

THEN 9-11 happened. Does that sound like the Goodreads notes?!

I hope someone reads this. It isn’t perfect, but I learned a lot. And I didn’t convert. 🙂

West of Kabul, East of New York An Afghan American Story

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