The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: black chadors, self deprecation, Islamic Republic, United States, Supreme Leader (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this critical but affectionate portrait of Iranian politics and culture, Majd, the Western-educated grandson of an ayatollah, delves into the very core of Iranian society, closely examining social mores and Farsi phrases to identify the Persian sensibility, which, Majd determines, cherishes privacy, praise and poetry. Nothing is too small or too sweeping for Majd to consider, and although he announces his allegiance to the former president Khatami, he remains scrupulously even-handed in assessing his successor Ahmadinejad, shedding light on the Iranian president's obsession with the Holocaust and penchant for windbreakers and why the two are (surprisingly) intertwined. The author's brisk, conversational prose is appealing; his book reads as if he is chatting with a smart friend, while strolling around Tehran, engaged in ta'arouf (an exaggerated form of self-deprecation key to understanding Persian society). Although Majd seems to gloss too quickly over realities that don't engage his interest—women's voices are only intermittently included—this failing scarcely mars this remarkable ride through what is often uncharted territory. (Oct.)
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Review

Praise for The Ayatollah Begs to Differ

“In this delightful book, Hooman Majd, a gifted storyteller, takes us on a tour of his own private Persia, which is also the Iran of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The results are illuminating, humorous, sobering, and ultimately reassuring.”
—Jon Lee Anderson, author of The Fall of Baghdad

“Hooman Majd is a stylish and engaging guide through the by-ways of Iranian life. Leading us from seminary to opium den to the presidential compound, his wry sense of humor makes this book a pleasure to read.” —Gary Sick, Ph.D., senior research scholar at Columbia University and member of the National Security Council staff under presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan

“A witty, timely perspective on the nation posing the greatest challenge to our next President. Travel writing often makes for easy reading at the expense of relevant information, which gets lost in the details. Not so with The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.”
—Bill White, mayor of Houston and U.S. secretary of energy under President Clinton --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1 edition (September 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385523343
• ISBN-13: 978-0385523349
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #222,861 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, October 2, 2008

By	Lisa Teasley - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the preface, writer Hooman Majd is described in oxymoron as the only person in the life of this particular friend as 100 percent American and 100 percent Iranian. In quoting a Sufi poet Sanai, Majd notes: "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,/there is a field. I'll meet you there." This is precisely what he does. This is not a book that attempts to justify the atrocities of any government, but is rather an examination of a country, its views, and how it got there. Though ideologically the Islamic Republic is to have done away with class-- just as Democracy is to have ideally done away with the constrains of the same-- Hooman Majd explores the complex psyche of modern Iran, at once Muslim, Shiite and Persian, all of which Majd defines with great detail, historic significance, personal reference, wit and depth in understanding. While taking us through South Tehran, once the city's roughest neighborhood known as "Texas," onto the government's utilitarian style compound in downtown Tehran, to the privileged homes of former royalists, ambassadors, and artists in North Tehran, to Qom, the desert town and home of Ayatollahs and Shia learning. In introducing us to the complicated personalities in these homes and offices, showing us how and why they got to their particular points of political views and lifestyles, we get an empathetic analysis-- and I stress empathetic as opposed to sympathetic-- in what it means to be Iranian today, and in this climate of what appears to be world tumult, crisis, and confusion. There is a calm centeredness to THE AYATOLLAH BEGS TO DIFFER, which is the manner in which I like to receive information on any highly controversial, timely and topical subject, as opposed to the kind of shrill analyses we find in abundance. I highly recommend Hooman Majd's book for readers who prefer their political and cultural literature written with a masterful sense of balance and wisdom, rather than justification, finger-pointing, and reactionary doctrine.

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Are There, October 2, 2008

By	Francis Meyer (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Not a book for the cherishers of preconceived notions, or the gaggle of aggrieved partisans who live in nostalgic reveries of the despicable Shah, Majd knows what's happening, makes his biases clear -- he is both a capital D American Democrat and an Iranian supporter of the reformist Khatami -- and happens to be a damn fine reporter. He gives the reader a tangible sense of why Iran is as it is, why the Iranians prefer to work with their imperfect Islamic Republic than seek a revolution to replace it, and how the nation's history, religion, food, poetry, and taxi drivers helped it become what it is. It's concrete and mystical, funny and beautiful, and constantly surprising -- I mean both this fantastically readable book and the country it describes.
Oh yes, and it will also tell you exactly what's really going on with that crazy president of theirs and the nuclear enrichment business.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Iranian cultural nuances, November 30, 2008

By	Book Maven - See all my reviews

Hooman Majd has done a fantastic job of describing Iranian cultural nuances to non Iranians.

I am an Iranian myself and I've never seen anyone describing the subtleties of my culture with this level of eloquence and clarity. Ta'arouf is very complex to explain and in my opinion Hooman has nailed it brilliantly. Hooman khodaast! (Hooman is god!) ... here you go, a Persian gholov (hyperbole) for you Amazon readers ;-)

Note to Mr Majd, time to write about America and American culture for Iranian people. Let's keep the dialogue going; let's disappoint the warmongers.