Category: Middle East

Leaving No Room

The Wisdom of the Arabs Compiled by Sheila Bushrui Oneworld Publications, 2002 Here lately, friends and I have been reading and discussing the wisdom of the Stoics as well as St. Francis and His Companions….

Activists

Hatred/2 by Hedy Epstein Throughout the 1960s, I became involved in local civil and human rights activities, as well as anti-Vietnam war protests. In the spring of 1970, it became public knowledge in the United…

An Actor

Sealing the Deal A couple of months after The Book of Mev came out, I did a reading and signing at at Left Bank Books in Saint Louis’s Central West End. I asked one of…

Reshma/1

Dearest Thuy by Reshma Rao I gave Reshma a book by a Vietnamese doctor, Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram. After she read it, she sent me the following…

Travelers

Wishing You an Un-Great Experience Now that you’re headed to _________ And people are wishing that you’ll have a “great” experience I hope you have a un-“great” experience If “great” means photo-ops Looking good with…

Back from the Soulless Void

Chris Hedges and Laila al-Arian, Collateral Damage: America’s War against Iraqi Civilians  Campbell: But you have this: I remember my unit was coming along this elevated overpass. And this kid is in the trash pile below, pulls…

Paying Attention

A year ago, I was recommending that friends read a short, invigorating book by Rebecca Solnit, entitled, Hope in the Dark. This year, I will recommend an amazing tour de force of paying attention, in…