Things I've been silent about
Subtitle: memories
By: Azar Nafisi
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9781615233236
Copyright date: 2008
Subjects: English teachers; Biography; Women; Professeurs d'anglais; Biographies; Femmes
Description: "Azar Nafisi, author of the international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country's political revolution. A girl's pain over family secrets; a young woman's discovery of the power of sensuality in literature; the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by political upheaval -- these and other threads are woven together in this beautiful memoir. Nafisi's intelligent and complicated mother, disappointed in her dreams of leading an important and romantic life, created mesmerising fictions about herself, her family, and her past. But her daughter soon learned that these narratives of triumph hid as much as they revealed. Nafisi's father escaped into narratives of another kind, enchanting his children with classic tales like the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings. When her father began to see other women, young Azar began to keep his secrets from her mother. Nafisi's complicity in these childhood dramas ultimately led her to resist remaining silent about other personal -- as well as political, cultural, and social -- injustices. Reaching back in time to reflect on other generations in the Nafisi family, Things I've Been Silent About is also a powerful historical portrait of a family that spans the many periods of change leading up to the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79. It is, finally, a deeply personal reflection on women's choices, and how Azar Nafisi found the inspiration for a different kind of life. This unforgettable portrait of a woman, a family, and a troubled homeland is a stunning book that readers will embrace, a new triumph from an author who is a modern master of the memoir."--Publisher description
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-320).
Table of contents: title: FAMILY FICTIONS. Saifi; title: Rotten genes; title: Learning to lie; title: Coffee hour; title: Family ties; title: The holy man; title: A death in the family; title: LESSONS AND LEARNING. Leaving home; title: Rudabeh's story; title: At Scotforth House; title: Politics and intrigue; title: Mayor of Tehran; title: Rehearsal for a revolution; title: MY FATHER'S JAIL. A common criminal; title: The prison diaries; title: A career woman; title: A suitable match; title: Women like that!; title: Married life; title: REVOLTS AND REVOLUTION. A happy family; title: Demonstrations; title: Revolution; title: The other other woman; title: When home is not home anymore; title: Reading and resistance; title: Broken dreams; title: Father's departure; title: The goddess of bad news; title: Facing the world; title: The last dance; title: The perils of love; title: Moments in 20th-century Iranian history.