Iran: A People Interrupted (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Declaring at the outset that he has an "ax to grind," Columbia University professor Dabashi focuses on the last 200 years of Iranian history, through the lens of a worldly cosmopolitan. He rejects the familiar dichotomy between the "traditional" and the "modern" in Iran, arguing that it's at best ill-conceived and at worst a tool of European/American colonialism. Instead, Dabashi suggests the notion of an "anticolonial modernity," predicated on Iranians' struggles "against the colonial robbery of the moral and material foundations of [their] historical agency." While he raises many worthy questions, Dabashi's thesis is weakened by a lack of nuance. He also exhibits many of the flaws he decries, establishing, for instance, his own dichotomies ("for us the world was squarely divided into two opposing parts: those who ruled it and those who resisted this tyranny") and using a historical terminology to dismiss people, ideas or national projects with which he disagrees (e.g., equating Iran's Islamic Republic with America's "Christian empire"). Peppered alternately with delightful vignettes from his Iranian youth and dense academic-speak, the result is a book that may please those who agree with its author, but is unlikely to win over the uninitiated. (Mar.)
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Review

A brilliant analysis of the Iranian state of mind…a nuanced reading of the complexities of the Iranian social fabric. -- Hannan Hever, chair, Department of Hebrew Literature, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

A leading light in Iranian studies. -- Chronicle of Higher Education

Extraordinary…Dabashi serve[s] up a theoretical and empirical treat that should attract attention. -- Professor Daniel Brumberg, Georgetown University

Fresh, provocative and iconoclastic. -- Professor Ian Richard Netton, University of Leeds

It provides its readers with a higher level of understanding than any hundred hours logged on CNN.com. -- Bookforum, Carlo McCormick

Lively and well written…Objective and empathetic…unlike many others on contemporary Iran. -- Professor Ervand Abrahamian, Baruch College, New York

Original, creative and insightful…significant…utilizing a new approach which yields fresh and valuable perspectives. -- Professor John L. Esposito, Georgetown University

Sparkles with verve and a sometimes-punishing wit…Encyclopedic in its scope, informal in tone, shrewd in its interpretation, indispensable. -- Edward W. Said

The grand clash of civilizations and ideologies will increasingly take place in the West, with writers and intellectuals as Dabashi. -- The Guardian

There are few better places to begin than with Dabashi's subtle and vividly presented wealth…on Iran. -- Professor Said Amir Arjomand, State University of New York, Stony Brook

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: New Press (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159558059X
• ISBN-13: 978-1595580597
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #755,618 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment, August 4, 2007

By	Booklover "booklover" (Boise) - See all my reviews

I have ready many books on Iran and the Middle East. I had a difficult time finishing this one. There is a lot of grand standing and name-calling in this book, but in the end it is not clear what the point is. Yes there are facts about Iranian history here, but those are in any other standard book on Iran. Beyond that this is an angry book which is tedious to read and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

39 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Provacative but Unconvincing, April 10, 2007

By	John Smith - See all my reviews

Mr. Dabashi provides an account of Iranian "national" and political history beside a history of literature. I enjoyed this method.

This book would seem to be a very good platform for stimulating debate but, the vast majority of the authors contentions are contradictory.

For example, he states that after the Constitutional Revolution there were three primary political "streams" in Iranian culture which were inseperable and applying them as labels to players was "lame" and "lazy". He then goes on to apply individual labels to key players and outline the distinct trajectories of each "stream" over the course of Iranian history.

Much later, he proclaims the end of Islamic Ideology..and then goes on to show how radical clerics tightened their grip on Iran under Ahmadinejad. hmm. End indeed. It could be that this is a play on "The End of History"...and the great accuracy of that piece of work but, only time will tell.

He suggests that some folks who wrote a paper he disagreed with should have been tried by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. For writing a paper. And then laments the brutal, illegitmate theocracy in Iran. Oh the tyranny.

These are just a few examples, the book is riddled with these contradictory arguments. I think this stems from the fact that the author is deeply entrenched in domestic American politics and it permeates this book. He essentially devotes the opening two chapters and a major portion of the closing chapter to positioning himself within the American political spectrum. (aka, the sections have little to do with Iran or Iranian history).

The clincher for me though is his blatant dismissal of any person who does not agree with him. Any intellectual, no matter their background, he disagrees with it instantly labelled a "neocon". The author repeatedly laments the uselessness of "inorganic expatriate intellectuals"...which, of course, he is. Right? Afterall, he admits he has given up on the reformers, didn't vote last time around, and has essentially thrown in with Ahmadinejad.

I would be hard pressed to cite this book in a paper or recommend it to a friend.

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip This One, August 11, 2007

By	Dee Dee "Book Maven" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

Mr. Dabashi has set out to write a new history of Iran, explaining the country, its history, and its politics in a whole new way. But by the end the book is a rehash of all too familiar anti-American rhetoric. So dominant is this anti-Americanism that Mr. Dabashi even attacks Iran's pro-democracy voices, accusing them of serving the neo-con agenda. In other words, Iranians should bag democracy to avoid advertising Bush's agenda. The book is full this sort of shocking logic. Readers will also find Dabashi's personal attacks on other scholars distasteful and distracting. This is not the groundbreaking book on Iran that it claims to be. Recent books by Moaveni, Molavi, Gheissari and Nasr, Chubin, and other like them, educate just as well, and more important, are more enjoyable to read.