This hilariously uplifting memoir follows an Arab American woman's merry life as she shimmies her way from getting dumped by her tattoo-artist boyfriend to coming to grips with being single, ample, and 30. Feeling lost and heartbroken, Anne Thomas Soffee moves back home to Richmond, Virginia. Against the wishes of her extended family and friends, she enrolls in a belly dancing class hoping to heal her heart and reconnect with her Lebanese roots. Her life is never the same after she discovers the riotous world of American belly dancing, a warm and welcoming subculture where younger and thinner are not necessarily better. Wildly funny adventures ensue as a newly confident Soffee embarks on romantic adventures with a domineering sheik and a beautiful Lebanese boy-next-door. Among the zils (finger cymbals) and thrills of attending classes and performing in moose lodges and county fairs, Soffee is surprised to find happiness and true love along the way.
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
After being dumped by her loser boyfriend, Soffee, a "sober, nerdy, rock 'n' rolling, coffee-drinking, school-teaching, erotica-reading, kitsch-loving Lebanese American" moves back home to Richmond, Va., to wallow in self-pity. There, she comes across a flier advertising the usual classes in yoga, vegetarian cooking, ballroom dancing and... belly dancing. Her girlfriends think she's lost her mind, but Soffee knows she's found the perfect distraction. Not only does belly dancing have nothing to do with her ex, it's a fine way to reconnect with her Lebanese roots. Plus, "it is a relief to be part of a subculture where younger and thinner do not automatically equal better." Soffee learns to roll her hips, shimmy and make her stomach poof out; spends wild amounts of money on the tackiest costumes imaginable; and most satisfying discovers the ultimate cool of "belly dancer bonding." Her ethnic high leads to marital fantasies, e.g., being "third-favorite wife" to a young sheik she's cyber-dating, although she admits "being obedient is easy on-line." She also has flings with an insufferable Iraqi yuppie and a born-again Lebanese boy-next-door all hilarious disasters. Soffee's women friends keep her from feeling too lousy ("[t]he good thing about girlfriends is they usually hate your exes before you do") until Mr. Right catches her by surprise. While there is a lot of information on the belly dancing culture, this is not a how-to book, although an appendix lists resources for the interested. What Soffee's really offering is a guide to mending a broken heart: embrace a totally distracting activity, bond with your girlfriends and don't forget to laugh.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Soffee found the cure for her broken heart in her own belly--belly dancing, that is. In a larger sense, belly dancing was something she could throw herself into, a focus, a passion, almost a calling. In this engaging memoir, she recounts how her life changed for the better when she took up the ancient art after her too-cool tattoo-artist boyfriend dumped her. The half-Lebanese Soffee had always wanted to learn more about the Arab side of her heritage, and belly dancing provided the opportunity to explore the music and culture of the Middle East. Along with describing her obsessive listening to Arabic pop music and her late-night Internet searches for information on belly-dance greats past and present, Soffee shares her ongoing dating adventures, including the Emerati millionaire she meets online, the Arab American history professor who offers wine to the 12-stepping Soffee, and the born-again guy who avoids "appearances of evil" in public and wrestles Soffee to the bed in private. Memoirs that chart personal journeys toward self-acceptance often seem self-indulgent, but that isn't the case here. Soffee's witty, flowing prose draws readers into this unlikely but captivating story of how a "sober, nerdy, rock 'n' rolling, coffee-drinking, school-teaching, erotica-reading, kitsch-loving, Lebanese American belly dancer" came to terms with herself. Beth Warrell
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is terrific! I'm almost done and it kept me up till 5am..AGAIN. I've been a dumbek player in a troupe who has been playing about 10 years, and an on and off beginning dancer occasionally, so I have been into the dance scene for a while. So many of the stories in the book sound like they could have happened up here. I knew JUST what she meant. The divas, the cliques, LOL. I've been to those dance shows, I've been at those gigs (or well, not quite as bad as that restaurant LOL but..). Its just hysterical. I'm so glad nearly everyone has given it 5 stars.
One thing I really enjoyed was hearing more about all these familiar names. I'm hearing names of people that i've heard of before, seen before (Morocco) talked to in email when ordering stuff(Lucy), or even know somewhat(Anthea). It really shows what a small world this is. Not every day do you read about people you know in a book!
I bought this book because of the bellydance, but also really enjoyed the whole single 30s woman relating and coping and trying to find true love part. There seem to be a number of books on that line lately, and I tried to read a few of the more popular ones. A couple were just so silly and unrealistic, I couldn't relate, and quickly ended up flung against the wall to land in the bad bad book heap. Anne's on the other hand is very intelligently written. She's not talking down to us. She's someone I could see hanging out with. She's real. Though I haven't had quite the adventurous heavy metal tatoo past that she has had, I could still totally relate. Its a very down to earth book in that way.
So..5 stars!
Anne if you read these come to Michigan and do a book tour please! There are lots of dancers here, and plenty of arabic culture too. Arabic night clubs and a whole stores with just arabic music.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Despite the fact that Ms. Soffee and I are probably opposite ends of the conservative range, and that I would no more get a tattoo, then I would bungee jump off of Mt. McKinley, I really could relate to her. I guess when it comes down to getting dumped, learning to love yourself and finding your own identity, we're all the same, regardless. The background of belly dance was an added bonus, since I have always had a fascination with its beauty and mystery. The real appeal of the whole book, though, is Anne's sense of Far Side type humor. To look at life and see what is humorously skewed is a rare gift, and Anne has it in spades. I'll keep this one for my own library.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not just a book about belly-dancing. It is the ironic, intelligently-written, and uplifting anthem of a woman scorned trying to put her life back together by reimagining herself and investing her quite considerable energies into bellydance. It is memoir-turned-chick-lit with all the requisite plotpoints. The crushing breakup. The sleepless, obsessive nights on the internet. The nightmare first dates. The happy ending. The author-turned-heroine is lovable in her honesty about her flaws and insecurity and readers will cheer her to the very end.
This isn't a book geared to belly-dancers, though dancers will probably enjoy the world they see within. It is geared towards the every-woman that has come out of a relationship heartbroken and uncertain.
If you do nothing else, read the exerpt provided above. Soffee's voice and charm and wit will do the rest. Highly recommended!
This isn't a book geared to belly-dancers, though dancers will probably enjoy the world they see within. It is geared towards the every-woman that has come out of a relationship heartbroken and uncertain.
If you do nothing else, read the exerpt provided above. Soffee's voice and charm and wit will do the rest. Highly recommended!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
a rainbow costume!
as a bellydancer myself, her experiences sounded awesome! i even know some of the people in her book! Read more
Published 1 month ago by cantara
Something every dancer can relate to
I loved this book almost from page one! With so few stories like this available, every belly dancer should trad this. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Cassia
Oh Soooo Familiar
I hung out on the now defunct MED Listserv for years, I've been to workshops all over the Southeast, I've met so many of the names mentioned, been involved in the same politics... Read more
Published 11 months ago by E. Burns
I don't think she ever got better. And repetative too
I couldn't aspire to ever want to be here nor understand her memoir. And perhaps we weren't suppose to. Read more
Published 20 months ago by PDX
Disappointment
i bought the 307 pages long book a few years ago but could never get into it and always ended up putting it to the side. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Riem Farahat
Great read
I thought this book was funny and real. We meet a lot of people in our life time some are here to stay and some only come into our life for a reason and in between those times we... Read more
Published on November 8, 2009 by The Princess Talks
A very funny book
I really love this book. I take belly dance classes through the Adult education system in a nearby town. Read more
Published on February 1, 2009 by T. Wadding
Tremendous Must Read for All Dancers - or anyone with humor!
One of my dancer friends gave me this book, and I read it after several months of hanging onto it. It was WONDERFUL! Read more
Published on January 10, 2009 by Zahara Ahlam
very amusing!
A very amusing book written about the belly dance world. I laughed out loud more than once while reading it. Read more
Published on September 9, 2008 by Alzubra
Rabid insecurity doth not a good story make
This book has its good moments. The author has a good wit, decent story-telling skills, and definitely keeps the pace moving (a little too frantic, though, at times). Read more
Published on September 1, 2008 by W. Butler
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
"IS THIS YOURS?" a foot-high plastic statuette of the X-Men's Wolverine is held up for me to peruse. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
belly dancing records, other belly dancers, zil number, veil number, snake hips, belly dancing class, shoulder shimmies, belly dancing lessons, little brown babies, snake arms, baba ghanouj, oil sheiks, hip circle, clown makeup, finger cymbals, harem pants Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Moose Lodge, Saint Anthony, Women of Selket, Middle Eastern, Mary Mary, World Cup, Lebanese American, Jesus Freaks, Port Said, Too-Tall Mary, Arab Chat, North Carolina, Blood Is Thicker, Cloverleaf Mall, Daddy Fats, Ethnic Police, Have Zils, Paper Moon, Peeking Under the Tent, Sea Monkeys, Will Travel, Bettie Page, Dot's Back Inn, Freddie Masmoud, Generation Xmas New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
"IS THIS YOURS?" a foot-high plastic statuette of the X-Men's Wolverine is held up for me to peruse. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
belly dancing records, other belly dancers, zil number, veil number, snake hips, belly dancing class, shoulder shimmies, belly dancing lessons, little brown babies, snake arms, baba ghanouj, oil sheiks, hip circle, clown makeup, finger cymbals, harem pants Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Moose Lodge, Saint Anthony, Women of Selket, Middle Eastern, Mary Mary, World Cup, Lebanese American, Jesus Freaks, Port Said, Too-Tall Mary, Arab Chat, North Carolina, Blood Is Thicker, Cloverleaf Mall, Daddy Fats, Ethnic Police, Have Zils, Paper Moon, Peeking Under the Tent, Sea Monkeys, Will Travel, Bettie Page, Dot's Back Inn, Freddie Masmoud, Generation Xmas New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 8
books:
See all 8 books this book cites
- Snake Hips by Anne Thomas Soffee on 5 pages
- The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories by William Sydney Porter on page 146
- Fat Chance by Simon Gray in Back Matter
- World Cup by Simon Shirley on page 134
- Looking for Little Egypt by Donna Carlton in Back Matter
See all 8 books this book cites
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