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Jun 21, 2008

R. rated it:

Not 17 pages into this and already I'm reminded of the huge family portrait of Middlesex, up to and including the immigrants who gather at houses to discuss politics of the homeland, the presence of a tender but dotty grandfather, etc.

Iranians live in an uber-strict wonderland that is half lush Arabian utopia and half Road Warrior-youth sci-fi dystopia. Kind of like eastern Washington. Naw. That ain't fair to Iran - nothing lush out here, except the occasionally, ah, rounded tumbl More...

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Jun 08, 2008

Jessica rated it:

Moaveni is a fun an engaging, fun narrator who reminded me of Elizabeth Gilbert in several ways - her spunkiness and humor, but also her self-obsession. I think this book could have been about 50 pages shorter - if I were the editor I would have cut most of the parts where she bemoans being from two places. Since she does not really give an intimate psychological portrait of herself, I never really knew why she felt the pain of dual-identity more than others or why we, her readers, should care More...

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Feb 06, 2011

Elinor rated it:

I really struggled with what to rate this book between not liking it and thinking it was OK. The thing is, Moaveni made me realize some things I should have realized a while ago, and that was good, but she did it by way of making me despise her.

OK, so I have had a bit of a thing for Iran (books about Iran, films from Iran...) for quite some time. This means that I have read a number of memoirs by women from Iran (Reading Lolita..., of course), and women who grew up in the diaspora More...

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Oct 15, 2010

Proushaat rated it:

Oh mother of Heavens … there is this lady author that I cannot stand for a second .. may heaven have mercy on me and gives me strength to finish reading this book * CRINGE *!

There is this American born journalist of an Iranian descend that goes about writing a book about her experiences of getting to know Iran. What bothers me is how she doesn’t seem to connect with the reality or knows what the hell she is talking about! I mean I am not in any place to be angry at her or anything b More...

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Mar 20, 2010

Alli rated it:

I'm counting this book under my theme this year of anthropology, which is specifically the study of human beings. Given that this book is a look into the lives of modern Iranians of my generation (or just a few years older), I think it qualifies.

I found this a very interesting read, definitely a more readable book than In The Land of Invisible Women that I read last year about Al-Saudia. Iran has always been a source of fascination for me, a non-Arab country with a non-Semitic la More...

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Jul 10, 2009

Mrs. Miska rated it:

Having just finished Empire of the Mind: A History of Iran, I felt good about jumping into Moaveni's Lipstick Jihad: I could now apply my new-found knowledge! It turns out, however, that Moaveni's writing is so well balanced between her journalistic style and her narrative that I didn't really need the background of Axworthy's History, but it was nice to have certain perspectives on Iran confirmed.

As a second-generation Iranian-American, Moaveni explores the years she lived and wo More...

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Jun 02, 2009

Thurston rated it:

Excellent title, and an interesting look at Iran, from a lady who grew up in California. As people, we all have our public presented self, and then the secret self that we keep cloaked to varying degrees. It sure seems from Moaveni's account that Iran is an entire nation where this divide is at work.

In talking to some Iranian friends at work, there is no doubt that Iran (much like Russia during the Reagan years) is unfairly demonized in the West. Who's calling who Satan? And yet at t More...

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Jul 16, 2007

Adella rated it:

Excellent! Lipstick Jihad was part of my reading list to immerse myself before my 1st trip to Iran. Not only does Moaveni write about her identity as an Iranian-American, and what that means to her and the world/society around her, she is also the same generation as myself and has written about a country and place that so few people truly know anything about. What's more, she is a woman writing about a country in which so few women have voices. Truly an inspiration!

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May 18, 2010

Valarie rated it:

Moaveni decides to move to her parents' native Iran and play journalist. Instead of objective reporting, or even an exploration of identity politics, her book is a narcissistic complaint about how difficult her privileged life is. She also comes across as extremely hypocritical, mocking recently returned expatriates for the very same things she did upon first arriving in Iran. She criticizes the elite class of Iran, and in the next breath derides someone for their "village accent" and More...

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Feb 11, 2011

Meri rated it:

I made the mistake of reading her second book first. Honeymoon in Tehran was a brilliant rendering of an Iranian government that is way out of touch with its people and the left-leaning, secular Iranians she hangs out with. The first book is more of the same, but much less polished. Moaveni talks about many of the same concepts in this book, but in a much more far reaching sense. Rather than just recounting her experience and describing the many personalities she surrounds herself with, desc More...

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Sep 10, 2010

Ari rated it:

This book is an absolute treat to read. I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm one of those Americans that the author rallies against. She talks about how people would ask her questions (upon her return from Iran) like "were you allowed outside?", etc. I would never ask that question, but I would probably wonder at how much freedom (and fun) a person could have living in Iran. Truth be told, I've never really thought about it. But in my Comparative Politics class we studied Iran's history a More...

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May 05, 2009

Jim rated it:

I continue my fascination with Iran. Moaveni's account is interesting, though it could easily have been tightened up, and could have included a lot more observation material. A bit repetitive. I found interesting her discussion of the clerical class. . .lazy, slothful, fat, greedy, and sexually predatory. Was fascinated by the turn toward eastern religions and a rampant turning away from Islam as it is forced upon the people. Repression has led to closeted sex, flirtation, and drug use. The coun More...

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Aug 08, 2011

Nura rated it:

I liked this book. The author clearly had or has trouble fitting in. The problem for me though, was that I got annoyed and kept thinking, "You don't belong. I get it. Now, get over it"

I think her aunt's servant had it right when she said ""So everything has to be just the way you want it?"" That is what the author wanted. Even at the end of the book, she had a coping mechanism in place. She surrounds herself with other equally melancholy Iranian-American More...

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Nov 04, 2011

Michael rated it:

Periodically annoying, periodically insightful memoir of a very young, naive Iranian-American woman from the elite niches of Californian Persian society who decides to cover the cultural and political changes under Khatami-era Iran as a journalist (without any particular journalistic qualifications, mind you, although she seems to have no trouble finding work). Much of the observations are relatively trite, although she makes a compelling point in her focus on the personal revolutions of social More...

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Nov 29, 2009

Janna rated it:

This was sort of interesting from a standpoint of learning about some Persian culture; but I don't think it was written particularly well. I kept feeling like the story was being set-up, but then realized that I felt this way all the way through the book. I didn't see what her deeper point was other than "living in Iran as a young woman who grew up in California with a romanticized notion of what old-Iran was like (that I picked up from my old relatives) is different that what I expected, More...

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Sep 06, 2009

D1wata rated it:

This book is endlessly interesting-- a priceless look into the modern Iranian upper class through the eyes of a second-generation Iranian-American correspondant for Time Magazine.

Though I usually hate memoirs, her inner turmoil over being Iranian or American or Iranian or American or Iranian or American was palatable. It could have been much worse. Her moxy for even moving to Iran when so many people and circumstances discouraged provided enough fodder to thicken the usual reflections More...

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May 31, 2009

Ann rated it:

My son says Iranians are the friendliest people on earth, so I always wondered how people in a totalitarian society could form great friendships with the "enemy." And how could a woman leave Santa Cruz and Palo Alto for a country where women were beaten for just showing a bit of hair or an ankle.

Moavani spent most of the book describing the ways the people of Iran thwarted the mullahs. Older people seemed to hide at home while younger played a fun game of cat and mouse. The More...

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May 02, 2009

Suz rated it:

Of the "caught between two cultures" I've recently read, this was the richest and best written. Born in Iran, Azadeh moved to California as a 3 year old and never could get quite into the California girl culture due to her background. Iran was pictured as heaven by her parents. Ultimately, she became a journalist for Time magazine and lived in Iran, and although fluent in Farsi, was never accepted by her countrymen/women as a fellow Iranian. She provides a lot of insights about the More...

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Dec 13, 2008

Amanda rated it:

Despite the whiny-ness of the beginning, the book really took off.
Its an excellent memoir of living in Iran as a young woman and the struggles of not having a definite single identity of American or Iranian.

The author, Azadeh, was very honest about her feelings, about how Iran really was. She talks about her crushes, hopes, and dreams. She talks about the fundamental difference between Farsi and English and how it can shape your world view (She says that Farsi doesn't have a wo More...

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Jun 06, 2011

Colleen rated it:

In theory, this is exactly what you'd expect of a thirtysomething writing a memoir about her life as a young naive twentysomething, back when she was soooo clueless and not anywhere near as wise as she is now. It's a lot of navel-gazing, contemplating the minute shreds of her reactions and musings and ponderings and angsting. But she has a legitimate subject -- usually something a navel-gazer type lacks. And it's an original one. Spunky journalist wanders into Tehran during recent political turn More...

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Nov 01, 2010

Ali rated it:

I admit, I didn't finish this book. I really tried to get through it. But every page was a personal slap in my face. I mean, she actually identifies the social caste I come from - baazaari - and talks about how her family would never associate with such riffraff. The author comes from an amazingly elitist background, and often assumes - at least up until the portion I read - that everyone shares her values and beliefs and that those who don't are morons. Furthermore, each sentence seemed soaked More...

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Apr 17, 2011

Mary rated it:

The author was born in America to Iranian exile parents and returns to Iran as a Time Magazine reporter to try to figure out where she belongs, if she can honor and live with her Iranian heritage, and if she can figure out how to wear cute outfits in such an oppressive society. The book is often a fascinating look at life in Iran, both more normal than I would have thought as well as scary, violent and
arbitrary. It is amazing to see how Iranians navigage, often in great style, around t More...

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Mar 22, 2010

Naomi rated it:

Absolutely fantastic read. Really well written and gripping - i could practically hear Moaveni telling me the story personally. Very accessible, honest, and sincere - dealing with politics in Iran since the 1979 revolution, plus the impact that's had on the Persian diaspora and social relations of the people, especially in a thriving city such as Tehran. She gives a clear, beautiful, diverse face to the people of Tehran and the expatriates around the world. Astute commentary on the challenge More...

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Jun 22, 2009

Hazel rated it:

Another recommendation from Kathy. A very timely read for me as I started it right as the demos about the 2009 election were starting and I heard the author on NPR giving her tuppence ha'penny-worth of opinion too.
I enjoyed the book. It reminded me that nothing is black and white and generalizations just will not do. While the author as an individual often seemed shallow but oh so human and young she always managed to follow it up with some sound analysis of why and how with a reasonable h More...

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Oct 11, 2011

Michelle rated it:

A 3.5, really. I liked the insight of this Iranian-American woman, raised in the US by nonreligious parents, who moves to Iran for a couple of years to try to figure out where she fits. I really felt for her dilemma, even if she did seem a bit self-involved, as she felt out of place in America, and also in Iran. At times the narrative was a bit chaotic and not as well organized as I might like, jumping around in time and not telling us and a few other problems, and a few writing issues as we More...

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Apr 28, 2010

Anthony rated it:

it doesn't seem to reproduce the harmful new orientalist perspective like Reading Lolita in Tehran or Kite-Runner (http://www.zcommunications.org/jasmine-a...), but Moaveni's class privilege and young age does keep the book in a fairly narrow realm of Iran's families of "intellectuals" and their youth.

that being said, through her personal journey and struggle as an outsider in both the u.s. and iran, she demystifies the western (orientalist) notion of iran as an oppressive More...

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Dec 26, 2011

Lucy rated it:

This was a fascinating book! Azadeh Moaveni is non only an Iranian-American, but also an American-educated journalist. The book depicts some of her childhood and youth, but mainly focuses on her time as a reporter for Time magazine in Cairo and Tehran. It was so interesting to learn about post-revolutionary Iran from an insider's perspective, especially to find that most of those who have lived through the Islamic Revolution are as unhappy with the outcome as those in the West. Also, as we near More...

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Jul 06, 2010

Kerry rated it:

Let me begin with this. After just reading the intro to this book I was hooked. (even at 2 am when I know I should get my ass to bed). Why you ask? It's rare that a writer can so fludily portray exactly what lies ahead within less than two pages without flashing all the goods.

The author in her less than two page intro merely explains her expectations growing up Iranian, (or a Persian princess as she calls it) in southern California, then only to find her idea of Iran to be shattered More...

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Apr 12, 2010

Lindsay rated it:

I kept hoping for this book to draw me in more than it did. Moaveni's observations were interesting enough, but it seemed that the text was rather scattered. For the most part, it was not told in chronological order, but by topic, which she strayed from fairly often. Granted, it's difficult to keep essentially politics and gender issues separated when discussing the Islamic Republic of Iran...so why did she format it like that? I feel I would have gotten more out of her memoir had she addres More...

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Feb 23, 2010

Nancy rated it:

Moaveni’s journalistic experience comes through in the organization and straight forwardness of her writing, and yet she manages to make it personal. The most interesting parts of the book for me were her experiences in Tehran. Having romanticized life there while growing up in California, she experiences total cultural shock when she moves to Tehran as a young adult. As an Iranian, she is allowed into the country to work as a stringer for Time and is immersed into the restricted life imp More...

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