"Children of Dust" is a penetrating memoir by a fresh Pakistani voice. Ali Eteraz reveals the inside story of Muslim fundamentalism in rural Pakistan, the culture shock of moving to the American Bible Belt, and a young man's journey of reconciliation with his Islamic identity. At last we have a compelling male Muslim voice telling his coming-of-age story, capturing not merely pain, but also the love, laughter, and pathos of Muslim life. Beginning in the rural areas of Pakistan, "Children of Dust" chronicles a boy's childhood in a fundamentalist world. It sets forth an intimate portrait of life at the lowest levels of Pakistani society in the turbulent eighties, exploring the place of women and children, and describing life and friendship in the severe environment of a madrassa. After immigrating with his family to the United States, Eteraz struggles to be a normal American teenager under the rules of a strict Muslim household. In 1999, he returns to Pakistan to find a pious Muslim wife. Instead of the country of his fond childhood memories, he finds the villages of his youth now dominated by the ideology of the Taliban, filled with young men spouting militant rhetoric, and his extended family caught up in a fight for survival. He becomes the target of a mysterious plot to abduct and hold him ransom for being a purported CIA agent, and eventually has to escape under military escort. Back in the United States, Eteraz eventually finds a middle way within American Islam. "Children of Dust" is a rollicking and sometimes subversive look at the religion of Islam in the global world by someone who has lived it to its fullest.
Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistan
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Eteraz opens his memoir with a vivid description of his father promising Allah that if God bestowed him with a son, that boy will become a great leader and servant of Islam. The rest of the book finds Eteraz, whose given name is Abir ul Islam (which translates as Perfume of Islam) trying to come to terms with his father's mannat, or covenant, and understand the role that Islam will play in his life as well as the role he will play for Islam. Born in Pakistan but raised in the U.S. from age 10, Eteraz moves easily between describing the holy history and tenets of his faith while exploring and explaining the differences between the Islamic world and Western society. As Eteraz's feelings for Islam change to fit his evolving personal, political and religious views, readers get a glimpse of all aspects of this hot-topic religion, from fundamentalism to reformism, salafism and secularism. A gifted writer and scholar, Eteraz is able to create a true-life Islamic bildungsroman as he effortlessly conveys his coming-of-age tale while educating the reader. When his religious awakening finally occurs, his catharsis transcends the page. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
[Eteraz’s] adventures are a heavenly read. (O, The Oprah Magazine )
Wildly entertaining, Children of Dust is memoir of the first order, as genuinely American as Muslim, unraveling the perilous mystery that is modern Pakistan as only memoir can. Unlike others, Eteraz has truly ‘been there,’ and we are all the better for it. (Murad Kalam, author of Night Journey )
The gripping story of a young man exposed to both the beauty and ugliness of religion. (Laila Lalami, author of Secret Son )
A love letter to one man’s fading faith, Children of Dust is a gift and a necessity, and should be read by believers and nonbelievers alike. Sure to deepen our collective conversation about religion and reason, loyalty and universality, and our geopolitical aims, it’s also just plain fun to read. (Yael Goldstein Love, author of Overture: A Novel and The Passion of Tasha Darsky )
“In Children of Dust . . . we follow the journey of a soul determined to reconcile the many worlds that live inside him. In a time rife with cultural misinterpretations and generalizations, sensitive accounts such as Children of Dust are invaluable assets.” (Laleh Khadivi, novelist, author of The Age of Orphans )
An astoundingly frightening, funny, and brave book. At a time when debate and reform in the larger landscape of the Muslim world, and in countries like Pakistan in particular, are virtually non-existent, Children of Dust is a call to thought. (Fatima Bhutto, poet and writer )
This elegantly written memoir traces [Eteraz’s] relationship with the religion of his birth, fromhis childhood in Pakistan, where he feared beatings at the madrassa, to adulthood in the U.S. . . . Thoughtful and wry, he offers glimpses of a changing Pakistan and a U.S. immigrant’s journey, too. (Booklist )
“A gifted writer and scholar, Eteraz is able to create a true-life Islamic bildungsroman as he effortlessly conveys his comingof- age tale while educating the reader. When his religious awakening finally occurs, his catharsis transcends the page.” (Publishers Weekly )
“A …complex story of a young man’s journey into the heart of his own faith.… Knowledgeable, humorous and personable, Eteraz is an engaging storyteller.” (San Jose Mercury News )
Compelling. (Washington Post )
“Eteraz’s memoir is a fascinating, elucidating account of Muslim mores and education. In these times when fears of Islam are high, it is well worth reading.” (The Providence Journal )
“Children of Dust is a coming of age story, filled with warmth and humour, but it also explores some very serious questions… a powerful and marvellous personal memoir.” (EnterStageRight.com )
“...Not only for people who are interested in Pakistan or Islamic issues, but for anyone looking for a compellingpersonal story. Because ultimately, this memoir isn’t about religion but about a fascinating quest for selffulfillment.” (PickledPolitics.com )
“Written with vivid descriptions, a smattering of urdu words and a very strong sense of nationalism... Children of Dust is an apt description of a thinking muslim.” (TheFourthArticle.com )
“Ali’s story is long and heart-rending, sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating, and his willingness to share it makes us all better off in the telling and re-telling as we reflect on our covenants and baggage.” (Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies )
Wildly entertaining, Children of Dust is memoir of the first order, as genuinely American as Muslim, unraveling the perilous mystery that is modern Pakistan as only memoir can. Unlike others, Eteraz has truly ‘been there,’ and we are all the better for it. (Murad Kalam, author of Night Journey )
The gripping story of a young man exposed to both the beauty and ugliness of religion. (Laila Lalami, author of Secret Son )
A love letter to one man’s fading faith, Children of Dust is a gift and a necessity, and should be read by believers and nonbelievers alike. Sure to deepen our collective conversation about religion and reason, loyalty and universality, and our geopolitical aims, it’s also just plain fun to read. (Yael Goldstein Love, author of Overture: A Novel and The Passion of Tasha Darsky )
“In Children of Dust . . . we follow the journey of a soul determined to reconcile the many worlds that live inside him. In a time rife with cultural misinterpretations and generalizations, sensitive accounts such as Children of Dust are invaluable assets.” (Laleh Khadivi, novelist, author of The Age of Orphans )
An astoundingly frightening, funny, and brave book. At a time when debate and reform in the larger landscape of the Muslim world, and in countries like Pakistan in particular, are virtually non-existent, Children of Dust is a call to thought. (Fatima Bhutto, poet and writer )
This elegantly written memoir traces [Eteraz’s] relationship with the religion of his birth, fromhis childhood in Pakistan, where he feared beatings at the madrassa, to adulthood in the U.S. . . . Thoughtful and wry, he offers glimpses of a changing Pakistan and a U.S. immigrant’s journey, too. (Booklist )
“A gifted writer and scholar, Eteraz is able to create a true-life Islamic bildungsroman as he effortlessly conveys his comingof- age tale while educating the reader. When his religious awakening finally occurs, his catharsis transcends the page.” (Publishers Weekly )
“A …complex story of a young man’s journey into the heart of his own faith.… Knowledgeable, humorous and personable, Eteraz is an engaging storyteller.” (San Jose Mercury News )
Compelling. (Washington Post )
“Eteraz’s memoir is a fascinating, elucidating account of Muslim mores and education. In these times when fears of Islam are high, it is well worth reading.” (The Providence Journal )
“Children of Dust is a coming of age story, filled with warmth and humour, but it also explores some very serious questions… a powerful and marvellous personal memoir.” (EnterStageRight.com )
“...Not only for people who are interested in Pakistan or Islamic issues, but for anyone looking for a compellingpersonal story. Because ultimately, this memoir isn’t about religion but about a fascinating quest for selffulfillment.” (PickledPolitics.com )
“Written with vivid descriptions, a smattering of urdu words and a very strong sense of nationalism... Children of Dust is an apt description of a thinking muslim.” (TheFourthArticle.com )
“Ali’s story is long and heart-rending, sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating, and his willingness to share it makes us all better off in the telling and re-telling as we reflect on our covenants and baggage.” (Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By amba
Format:Hardcover
I think it's a pity that this book is being marketed as a memoir of Pakistan. That's far too limiting. Yes, it gives an inside glimpse (and sniff) you won't find anywhere else of life in a desert town in Baluchistan before and after the region began to be terrorized by militant fundamentalists. But you must realize that when he was sent to a harsh madrassa in that desert hometown of his relatives by uprooted parents seeking the anchor of piety, Ali Eteraz had already lived in Saudi Arabia as an infant and in the Dominican Republic, where his father attended medical school, as a small child. This is really a memoir of the postmodern condition of displacement, the quest for a home and a self through multiple identities, the diametrically opposed temptations of absolutism and absolute freedom. It is as much about America, an America seen through the looking glass of Islam -- a stew of opportunity and spiritual danger, from Wallah Wallah to Allah-bama -- as it is about Pakistan or about Saudi Arabia, where Eteraz's life's trajectory is conceived at the beginning and movingly consummated, in a way he himself did not expect, at the end.
While this book will give you a very particular, unsparing, sometimes very funny inside look at Islam, it also takes on universal issues: the antagonism between religion and sex; the secret collusion between zeal and ego; the profound difference between a top-down intellectual synthesis and an upwelling spiritual unity. What may be most unusual about this book is that rather than mainly satirize the follies of others, Eteraz flays himself first, mercilessly anatomizing the mixed motives that powered his precocious achievements as a scholar, lawyer, activist, writer, and reformer. He never utters Baudelaire's words -- "Hypocrite lecteur,--mon semblable,--mon frère!" -- but his honesty unmasks the insecure vanity, and the tenderness and longing, that we all share.
Kafka said "A book should be an ax for the frozen sea within us." This book shattered my defenses and softened my heart. I laughed and cried.
While this book will give you a very particular, unsparing, sometimes very funny inside look at Islam, it also takes on universal issues: the antagonism between religion and sex; the secret collusion between zeal and ego; the profound difference between a top-down intellectual synthesis and an upwelling spiritual unity. What may be most unusual about this book is that rather than mainly satirize the follies of others, Eteraz flays himself first, mercilessly anatomizing the mixed motives that powered his precocious achievements as a scholar, lawyer, activist, writer, and reformer. He never utters Baudelaire's words -- "Hypocrite lecteur,--mon semblable,--mon frère!" -- but his honesty unmasks the insecure vanity, and the tenderness and longing, that we all share.
Kafka said "A book should be an ax for the frozen sea within us." This book shattered my defenses and softened my heart. I laughed and cried.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Enchanting. Thought provoking. Sad and yet hopeful. Roller coaster.
Those words come to mind when I think of Children of Dust by Ali Eteraz. I enjoyed reading this book. From the first pages, to the last...I was not sure where Ali was taking me. And trust me it was a journey.
The enchanting part...the descriptions of his life in detail...the colors, the shabbiness of the old clothes, the scents surrounding his life...the language...took me into his world and I felt a part of his life. His child's eyes saw everything and with his eyes, I saw a life of poverty and yet full of love and joy at times. Ali's eyes also saw great sadness and horrors that we in the West cannot imagine and gratefully so.
Through Ali's eyes, I saw Islam. Ali saw both the Islam that is peaceful and an Islam that can be brutal. To read of a child learning Islam (the faith) was inspiring. To read of a child learning Islam (the religion) was saddening. I have to say some of the more violent parts were hard for me to read. In fact, I had to set the book aside and meditate. No one wants to read of abuse. However, read I did and I learned the difference between faith and religion.
Ali writes with a sense of humor and such an openness that it is hard to believe he has seen many acts of violence in his life. He gives everyday people another reason to believe ...to know they have a voice and have a right to live in peace.
During his metamorphoses, the book was hard to follow. It seemed Ali had lost his focus. Yet wouldn't you and I lose some focus while changing? We would. The one thing that remained was his love for Islam.
Those words come to mind when I think of Children of Dust by Ali Eteraz. I enjoyed reading this book. From the first pages, to the last...I was not sure where Ali was taking me. And trust me it was a journey.
The enchanting part...the descriptions of his life in detail...the colors, the shabbiness of the old clothes, the scents surrounding his life...the language...took me into his world and I felt a part of his life. His child's eyes saw everything and with his eyes, I saw a life of poverty and yet full of love and joy at times. Ali's eyes also saw great sadness and horrors that we in the West cannot imagine and gratefully so.
Through Ali's eyes, I saw Islam. Ali saw both the Islam that is peaceful and an Islam that can be brutal. To read of a child learning Islam (the faith) was inspiring. To read of a child learning Islam (the religion) was saddening. I have to say some of the more violent parts were hard for me to read. In fact, I had to set the book aside and meditate. No one wants to read of abuse. However, read I did and I learned the difference between faith and religion.
Ali writes with a sense of humor and such an openness that it is hard to believe he has seen many acts of violence in his life. He gives everyday people another reason to believe ...to know they have a voice and have a right to live in peace.
During his metamorphoses, the book was hard to follow. It seemed Ali had lost his focus. Yet wouldn't you and I lose some focus while changing? We would. The one thing that remained was his love for Islam.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I give this 3.5 stars.
The book was interesting, thorough and well-written. Though this might seem like a sexist assumption, it seemed more like a "man's book" to me. I have read books of this type and enjoyed them, but for some reason as a woman, I didn't really relate to Ali Eteraz as he shared his life from early adolescence through young adulthood, told through the lens of a very-hormonal (aren't they all) adolescent.
However, for those interested in the Muslim religion, he was quite thorough and even-handed -- expressing his ups and downs as he delved into fundamentalism at times, became an activist, and shied away from his faith and roots at others.
His changes in philosophy are marked by changes in his name as well, as he goes from his given name Abir ul Islam (perfume of Islam) to the more American Amir, to Ali Eteraz (Noble Protest).
The most appealing part of this story to me was the coming-of-age angle. I chuckled in recognition as the teen and young adult Ali Eteraz was always convinced that whatever viewpoint he held was THE right viewpoint and the one that everyone should hold.
The book was interesting, thorough and well-written. Though this might seem like a sexist assumption, it seemed more like a "man's book" to me. I have read books of this type and enjoyed them, but for some reason as a woman, I didn't really relate to Ali Eteraz as he shared his life from early adolescence through young adulthood, told through the lens of a very-hormonal (aren't they all) adolescent.
However, for those interested in the Muslim religion, he was quite thorough and even-handed -- expressing his ups and downs as he delved into fundamentalism at times, became an activist, and shied away from his faith and roots at others.
His changes in philosophy are marked by changes in his name as well, as he goes from his given name Abir ul Islam (perfume of Islam) to the more American Amir, to Ali Eteraz (Noble Protest).
The most appealing part of this story to me was the coming-of-age angle. I chuckled in recognition as the teen and young adult Ali Eteraz was always convinced that whatever viewpoint he held was THE right viewpoint and the one that everyone should hold.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring
I had a lot of trouble reading it. it went nowhere, I think it was a waste of good ink.
Published 4 months ago by Neil whitty
3.0 out of 5 stars
Book club selection.
Interesting and informative regarding Muslim school structure for young children also informative about Pakistan and its history. Lots of good questions for book club. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jacqueline E. Fothergill
1.0 out of 5 stars
boring
I got bored reading this book. Didn't get interested in the characters nor the story. It seemed like too much of the same thing over and over again. Read more
Published 13 months ago by S. Denton
2.0 out of 5 stars
Don't bother.... this book is a chore to read
I read this book for my book club and I simply didn't like it.
The first part, which describes the author's upbringing in a strict Islamic family and madrassas school,... Read more
The first part, which describes the author's upbringing in a strict Islamic family and madrassas school,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by ttmadison
5.0 out of 5 stars
Glimpse of a Muslim Life
I absolutely loved this book. The writer allowed me the reader to see into a life I will never experience. Read more
Published 18 months ago by James G. Fisher III
4.0 out of 5 stars
Religious Indoctrination
I have to confess that I found this a little confusing for a memoir because so much is written in dialogue form, even when the author is a young child. Read more
Published on February 4, 2011 by Mike B
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting read - kind of fizzles out in the end
The book is not so much about explaining why Islam needs to be reformed - this it also attempts to do - but more about a person's struggles with his outlook on religion, life and... Read more
Published on August 22, 2010 by Sayyonee19
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating and entertaining
I almost feel inadequate reviewing this book because I'm sure I haven't understood everything the author wanted to convey. But I loved what I grasped from it. Read more
Published on June 18, 2010 by VioletCrush
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not all Muslims are Terrorists, some actually fight that. This is...
Children of Dust by Ali Eteraz ISBN 978-0-06-156708-7
Review by Chris Phillips
Eteraz has written an autobiography. Read more
Review by Chris Phillips
Eteraz has written an autobiography. Read more
Published on January 4, 2010 by Chris Phillips
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and creative narrative
I loved reading this book. It was an interesting way to address one's own religious past, and one that seems very import as an experience in the immigrant American-Muslim... Read more
Published on December 30, 2009 by Heather D. Barton
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