Arabian Jazz [Hardcover]

Diana Abu-Jaber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993

In a tribute to diverse cultures, Matussem and his family live in a poor, mostly white town in upstate New York, and he loves Arab folktales, American jazz standards, and--most of all, his daughters. A first novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This promising if uneven first novel focuses on a Jordanian widower and his grown daughters as they try to make a home for themselves in upstate New York. Struggling to locate their place in American culture, Matussem, Melvina and Jemorah also cope with Fatima, Matussem's meddlesome sister, who is forever trying to marry off her nieces. Abu-Jaber successfully depicts the family's anomie, the discomfort they feel both in their ancestral land and in the States. On the other hand, she shows just how Americanized they have become--Matussem moonlights as a jazz drummer ("The Big Band Sound of Mat Ramoud and the Ramoudettes"), the daughters congregate with co-workers at the bar Won Ton a Go-Go. The work falters, however, in unconvincing descriptions of Jem's semi-romantic involvements with a gas-station attendant and a big-talking mathematician/pool hustler. And at times the larger-than-life portrayal of Jordanian relatives clinging to ethnic customs borders on caricature. But Abu-Jaber's sobering, shocking revelations of the hardships long buried as family secrets in the Old Country serve as proof of her narrative powers.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

You're an Arab-American writing about your community in your first novel. Should you go for a comic/satirical treatment? Do something more serious, emphasizing cultural displacement? Or broaden your canvas to include the white, nonethnic neighbors? Abu- Jaber has tried all three tacks and been overwhelmed in the process. The Ramoud family, father and two grown daughters, live in a small town in upstate New York and work at the same hospital in Syracuse. The father, Matussem, emigrated from Jordan as a young man and fell in love with and married Nora, an Irish-American who interpreted his new country for him. Since her death from typhus on a trip to Jordan, the gentle, passive Matussem has found a refuge in jazz (he's a drummer with his own group) and caring for his daughters. The younger, Melvina, is no problem; only 22, she's already Head Nurse. But Jemorah, the protagonist by default in this plotless novel, is another story. Stuck in a clerical job she hates, Jem's pushing 30 and still single, which is driving her Aunt Fatima nuts. (Fatima, whose life's ambition is to join the worthy Arab matrons on the Ladies' Pontifical Committee, is the main satirical target here.) None of Jem's three possible mates is very plausible. There's Gilbert Sesame, a fast-talking pool hustler who's here one minute, gone the next; Ricky Ellis, a local grease monkey with whom Jem makes love in the bushes; and cousin Nassir, fresh from Jordan, who warns Jem about her extended family, ``a cult organization.'' Eventually, after two crudely engineered encounters with bigots, she decides that postgraduate research into race prejudice is the answer. The other elements in this mishmash (visiting Jordanians on a credit-card rampage, poor whites tormenting themselves with coathangers and booze) only add to the confusion. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 374 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt; 1st edition (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151078629
• ISBN-13: 978-0151078622
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diana Abu-Jaber's new novel, Origin, is a literary psychological thriller which has received starred reviews from both Publisher's Weekly and Booklist.

She has also written three other books, including her memoir-with-recipes, entitled The Language of Baklava, which was a Border's Original Voices selection and was included in Best Food Writing 2005. It also won the 2006 Northwest Booksellers' Award.

Her novel, Crescent (W.W. Norton), won the PEN Center Award for Literary fiction and the Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award. It was also named a Notable Book of the Year by the Christian Science Monitor. Her first novel, Arabian Jazz (W.W. Norton) won the Oregon Book award.

Abu-Jaber currently teaches at Portland State University and divides her time between Portland, Oregon and Miami, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A joyful adventure in cultural diversity, July 4, 2003

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arabian Jazz: A Novel (Paperback)

This light-hearted and imaginative novel portrays a Jordanian family as they adjust to life in the United States. Jazz musician and widower Mattusem Ramoud has raised his two daughters alone since his wife's death, balancing their lives as Americans with their Jordanian hertiage. The extended family is like any other large, eccentric group of people, full of intensity and humor, loving each other unconditionally through whatever difficulties arise.

Jemorah and Melvina have reached marriageable age and their Aunt Fatima, Matussem's sister, is determined that this year, during "Family Function Season", at least Jemorah will find a husband before she is old enough to be disqualified as a spinster. The search is on and Fatima leaves no stone unturned, offering an assortment of odd relatives, second cousins and distant "uncles". But Jemora is in no hurry to make a choice that will alter the course of her life, determined to make a well-informed decision.

This intimate peek into one Arab-American family's experience, blends two generations of Ramouds, all of them quirky and colorful. Many are recent visitors from Jordan who speak in fractured English that renders them even more charming and eccentric, if that is possible, as Abu-Jaber holds her finger directly on the pulse of this remarkable family. Cousin Saiid enthuses, "I must be in heaven, man. You are our cousins, man? This is completely, like, my mind is psyching out."

Old Country fables abound, along with the foolish antics of the younger generation in this eclectic mix of characters. Each page is a delight, bursting with life and energy, family connections and intimate portraits of the bonds of love. Whatever Jemorah decides, she will always have a soft place to fall, her Jordanian-American family her greatest asset. Abu-Jaber has deftly penned the tale of a raucous family, enthusiastic about everything in their lives, music, the future and each other. The Ramoud's share their fascinating culture with the reader, reinforcing the belief of an America that offers infinite possibilities to those who embrace her opportunity and generosity, enriching this country with their accomplishments. Luan Gaines/2003

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven, but when it's good it soars, July 22, 2003

By 

Mishka M "mmmatlarge" (BEIRUT Lebanon) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Arabian Jazz: A Novel (Paperback)

Worth reading, though the first few pages (and some later) are extremely disappointing. Arabic names are mispronounced, the attempt at comedy is poor, and none of the characters are remotely sympathetic. As the book proceeds, we meet a very different kind of writing. Some of the passages in the book are exceptionally insightful and well written. For those passages it is well worth reading the book. I would rate the book between 1 and 5. It won't tell you much about Arab culture except in parody, but it portrays alienation and prejudice with candor and poignancy.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very moving, engaging story and characters., May 25, 1998

By 

David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arabian Jazz (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

Arabian Jazz recounts the experiences of an Arab-American immigrant family living in a depressed area of upstate Ney York. The story revolves around the themes of family, race, marriage and loss as the two grown daughters of Matussem Ramoud, daytime hospiatal maintenance man and night time jazz drummer work through the pressures of work, family pressure to marry "correctly" and the loss of their mother early in childhood.

While I found the primary characters engaging and the story often moving, this book suffers, greatly at times, from what I'd describe as "First Novel Faults". Many of the secondary characters have no substance, or have substance but appear and disapper from the narrative in haphazzard ways. The novel attempts to paint a picture of life in the community overall but does so in an inadequate, stilted manner at odds with the heart of the story. Some of the personal confrontations are contrived and some of the characters come across as stereotypes.

All of those faults notwithstanding, the book nevertheless paints a vivid, moving picture of the immigrant experience, the difficulties inherent in interacial interpersonal relations and the groping for familial healing in the face of loss. In the end, the power of the story, the realism of the primary characters, and the sense of genuine love that suffuses the narrative more than compensate for the technical problems that crop up from time to time. I heartily recommend this book.