Saffron Sky: A Life Between Iran and America (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This lyrical memoir revisits still-important questions about immigration, race, and cultural assimilation. Aseyesh, a journalist at the Miami Herald, emigrated from Iran to the United States as a young girl; now married and a parent, she finds herself mourning the loss of her old self and angry at Americans' anti-Iranian racism. Moving back and forth between past and present, she chronicles her life as a series of trips to and from IranAas a child who spoke no English, on the eve of the 1992 Gulf War as a green card-holding adult, and as the parent of a young biracial American citizenAand in doing so, tells the story of both her family's and Iran's tumultuous recent history. This beautifully written narrative provides a rare, humanizing glimpse into the politics, culture, and geography of a place about which most Americans know shamefully little. Although slow-moving and seemingly plotless at times, this is for the most part a wonderful and timely tale. Recommended strongly for all libraries.ARachel Mattson, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

To have the spiritual culture of the East and the material luxuries of the West may seem like paradise, but Asayesh has spent her life trying to acclimate herself to such a situation--to be accepted in St. Petersburg, Florida, and to retain the language, religion, rituals, and ceremonies of Iran. As a girl and young woman, Asayesh longed to be considered cultivated and Western as opposed to the Eastern stereotype of backward and primitive. Now, in her thirties and a mother of two, she has maintained an Iranian culture within an American home. Asayesh reveals not only the prejudice she has faced in the U.S., but she explains how Iranians view their culture as inferior to that of the West. Asayesh draws from her childhood during the Shah's reign to objectively compare life in Iran before and after the 1978 revolution. She is even critical of herself. This emotional biographical journey is Asayesh's reclaiming of her heritage, a part of herself that she abandoned years ago. It is politically and historically informative and will help bridge the gap between East and West for many readers. Michelle Kaske

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; First Printing edition (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807072109
• ISBN-13: 978-0807072103
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,033,648 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, beautiful story of the immigrant's dilemma, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This is a fast but amazingly beautiful read about an intriguing place (Iran) and about the very tough choice immigrants make when they leave their home for America. Is the author Iranian or American? That proves to be a fascinating and very powerful question that she is painfully sorting out. I learned about modern day Iran, about arriving suddenly in very different land (it's tough even in progressive Chapel Hill, North Carolina) and about what it must be like to return to a homeland that's very different from the one you left. A terrific book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consciousness-raising and profound..., February 20, 2000

By	martha woodworth (santa fe, new mexico) - See all my reviews

I read this book with gratitude. Though I am a Jewish woman, born in America, I, too, have grappled with my identity. Ms. Asayesh stirred feelings in me about my own assimilation from my childhood, when I lived with my orthodox Jewish grandparents and celebrated holidays and customs that, as time went on and the elders died or I moved away from them, lost their hold on me.

The author's descriptions of her loving family and the warmth and sweetness of past rituals and the land she had loved as a child were very touching. I was especially moved when she wrote that her aunt, visiting in Canada, had wept, noting that North America is so green, and Iran is so brown...and dry. It made me realize, not without a little shame, that I take my homeland for granted, and also that there are people who, though they may be less fortunate, love their parched homeland as much as I love my fertile one.

Although it was hard to hear about the dogmatic, sexist, religious practices and the anti-Americanism of many Iranians today, it is important to remember that America is not without its flaws in these and other areas. We, too, have an extreme, right-wing element that opposes women's rights and the rights of minorities. We have plundered others' lands in the name of Democracy when, in fact, it is economic interest that motivates us. We still have the death penalty here. Hate crimes abound. Children murder other children. Addiction to drugs and alcohol is rampant. Our politicians are corrupt, and we accept this with cynicism.

And yet I, too, love my homeland and forgive its many sins. At least I can still live here fairly comfortably. Ms. Asayesh found herself in exile from the place she loved. The wrenching sadness of that disconnection was beautifully portrayed. I hope a lot of people read this book.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shallow But Typical, May 16, 2000

By	azadeh azad (Canada, British Columbia) - See all my reviews

Saffron sky is a shallow tale of the discontinuous life of the immigrant. It also speaks to the perspective of the female identity among the Iranian upper class. It depicts a traditional female identity, shaped by the internalized rules and restrictions, customs and traditions, and the immense weight of the family ties and classist values. The author is simply too attached to her unexamined heritage which is inherently patriarchal, power-oriented, contemptuous of lower social classes, and opponent of female individuation beyond the parameters of father's morality.

A big chunk of Gelareh's emotional turmoil is about becoming an adult, be it in America or in Iran. So, when the author wails that while working as a journalist, "there were no buffers between me and life's harsh realities, no cocoon of familiarity and routine to shelter me, no one's love to anchor me."(p.120), the reader wishes to point out to her that this is what growing up is all about, that this has nothing to do with the immigrant's anguish and affliction.

The author's lack of critical examination of her roots frustrates the reader. The historic role of her feudal grandfathers in keeping women, peasants and labourers under wraps are simply not perceived. Gelareh despises the notion of Westerners' superiority over Iranians; she remembers the contemptuous attitude of a British family who came to rent their house in Iran; but she does not feel "diminished" by the "subtle arrogance" and "patronizing kindness" her family showed towards people of lower classes in Iran.

Gelareh's travels to Iran, from 1990 to 1999, coincide with the beginning of a feminist movement within the country that manifests itself through many clandestine feminist gatherings and study groups as well as the publication of progressive women's magazines and many public speeches for the women's rights in Iran by secular women activists. Yet, the author only contacts an organ of the Islamic Regime and talks about women in the Parliament and a single friend of hers who has embraced the world of Mullahs.

Saffron Sky does not bring the reader to a new understanding of the life between Iran and America. Instead, it is an invaluable document on the arrogance and unreliability of an Iranian social class that has very close roots in feudalism, flirts with communism, is alternately for and against the Shah, produces Ayatollahs, pretends to be for feminism, feels inferior to Westerners and then challenges them for their arrogance, and finally reinterprets all thoughts and social events under the Sun.