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Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad Paperback – March 15, 2011
| Waris Dirie (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Cathleen Miller (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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"Waris's story is one of remarkable courage. From the deserts of Somalia to the world of high fashion, she battles against oppression and emerges a real champion. She is the most beautiful inspiration to anyone." —Elton John
Waris Dirie ran away from her oppressive life in the African desert when she was barely in her teens, illiterate and impoverished, with nothing to her name but a tattered shawl. She traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu—the first leg of a remarkable journey that would take her to London, where she worked as a house servant; then to nearly every corner of the globe as an internationally renowned fashion model; and ultimately to New York City, where she became a human rights ambassador for the U.N.
Poignant and powerfully told, Desert Flower is Waris's extraordinary story.
- Print length240 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMarch 15, 2011
- Dimensions6.12 x 0.62 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-109780688172374
- ISBN-13978-0688172374
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Succeeds not just as a polemic against [female genital mutilation] and its attendant horrors, but as a classic chronicle of immigrant hardship and triumph." -- Village Voice
"Waris Dirie is a remarkable and courageous person. Her story is an inspiration. Not only did Waris overcome obstacles that would defeat most people, but as UNFPA Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, she will serve as a leader in the struggle to end all forms of discrimination against women." -- Dr. Nafis Sadik, executive director, United Nations Population Fund
"Waris's story is one of remarkable courage. From the deserts of Somalia to the world of high fashion, she battles against oppression and emerges a real champion. She is the most beautiful inspiration to anyone." -- Elton John
From the Back Cover
Waris Dirie ran away from her oppressive life in the African desert when she was barely in her teens, illiterate and impoverished, with nothing to her name but a tattered shawl. She traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu—the first leg of a remarkable journey that would take her to London, where she worked as a house servant; then to nearly every corner of the globe as an internationally renowned fashion model; and ultimately to New York City, where she became a human rights ambassador for the U.N. Desert Flower is her extraordinary story.
About the Author
An internationally recognized supermodel, Waris Dirie is a United Nations special ambassador who travels the world as an articulate and passionate advocate of human rights. She served as United Nations special ambassador for the elimination of FGM. She has since established the Desert Flower Foundation to advance women’s rights in Africa.
Cathleen Miller circled the globe to interview sources for her latest book, Champion of Choice, the biography of UN leader Nafis Sadik. Her previous work includes the international bestseller Desert Flower, which was adapted as a feature film. Miller’s travel essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times.
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Product details
- ASIN : 0688172377
- Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks (March 15, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 240 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780688172374
- ISBN-13 : 978-0688172374
- Item Weight : 10.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.12 x 0.62 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #247,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #257 in Customs & Traditions Social Sciences
- #482 in Social Activist Biographies
- #609 in Feminist Theory (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

An American by birth, Cathleen Miller has traveled around the globe to write her books telling the stories of people and places. She has interviewed diplomats and heads of state on five continents, patients in an Addis Ababa hospital, rape camp survivors in Kosovo, and midwives in the mountains of East Timor. Her work sometimes places her in strange circumstances, for example cruising St. Petersburg in a Winnebago to interview prostitutes, and running down a Brazilian mountain at midnight fleeing bandits. Cathy’s biography of Nafis Sadik, Champion of Choice, is the result of ten years of work and many, many strange circumstances.
Cathy’s previous work includes the international bestseller Desert Flower, which has been translated into 55 languages and adapted as a feature film shown around the globe. In both Desert Flower and Champion of Choice, Cathy utilizes storytelling as a rhetorical device to demonstrate how the issues which affect one individual are representative of a larger world order. The personal is political.
Cathy is also the author of a memoir about her life in rural Pennsylvania, The Birdhouse Chronicles, a book first written as her master’s thesis while she attended Penn State’s MFA program in creative writing. Birdhouse received a Pushcart Prize nomination.
A winner of the Society of American Travel Writers gold award, Cathy’s travel essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times. They are included in the collection Wild Writing Women: Stories of World Travel.
Cathleen Miller taught creative writing at San José State University, where today she is an emeritus professor. She’s an accomplished public speaker who has performed at numerous venues, including Cinequest, LitQuake, the Ford Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, the Women, Peace and Conflict Lecture and Film Series, and the American Women’s Association of Rome. She’s also featured in a Ted Talk on a topic dear to her heart: “How to Raise Your Daughter to Become a World Leader.”

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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on March 12, 2020
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At first, I admit I was annoyed by the simplicity of the writing. I had a hard time picturing the life of a nomadic culture in Somalia. Then as the life of this courageous woman unfolded, I couldn't stop reading.
I had NO IDEA this was the model who brought the cultural ritual of Female Genital Mutilation to the attention of the world. Her bravery is astonishing. Waris's arguments why this practice should not continue anywhere and what she has revealed FGM to be at it's essence: a way to control women invented by men, to be found no where in the Qu'ran are among the most eloquent passages I have read any where in literature.
Her young life in the desert continues with her siblings and parents, and taking care of the animals. In her early teens, her father arranges for her to marry an older man. Waris is very unhappy about this situation. With her mother's help, one morning she escapes alone. She walks through the desert. At some point, she awakes to find a lion staring at her. She is frightened but continues on to Mogadishu, where she will live with relatives.
In the city she asks questions of people to find her way, she is so young and men out there harass her and give her a hard time. She lives with relatives for awhile and then leaves with relatives to go to London. Once there, she works as a housemaid and in McDonalds.
She is soon discovered by a fashion photographer who takes an interest in her. She is a young, tall, slender, beautiful Somali woman, and she is invited to model. She becomes successful at this career and turns into a supermodel. She moves to New York City. She walks the runway in the top fashion shows in big cities around the world. She marries and has a son.
Waris Dire is a Human Rights Activist. She is a spokesperson for the UN against FGM. She is the Chief Executive of Desert Flower Foundation, an organization which provides education to protect girls against female genital mutilation.
However, even the book is basically non-fiction there are a few parts that appear to be fiction or at least embellished or exaggerated. That especially applies to parts about her description of a years long marriage to a man that in the book she couldn't avoid. For example, when her husband would fly to NYC to stay with her after someone from the agency gave him her address, I find it difficult to believe she couldn't let the owner of apartment return to his apartment for couple of day and tell her husband that he has the wrong address while she she stayed in a hotel.
Other parts, especially about her description of being subjected to and the after effects of female genital mutilation (FGM) seem so real it would would bring me to tears.
She describes undergoing female genital mutilation, though it is not the focus of the book, and shows how it affects her relationships and how getting treatment saved her life in many ways.
Top reviews from other countries
Parts of it are humorous, parts of it make you gasp aloud with shock, and all the way through the novel, you have the upmost respect and admiration for such a strong, grounded and courageous woman.










