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  <title><![CDATA[Towelhead]]></title>
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  <description><![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<p>  Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian¹s well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em></p>]]></description>
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    <id>30943</id>
        <name><![CDATA[Alicia Erian]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
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  <average_rating>3.49</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>6</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[ALL WOMEN EVERYWHERE]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Apr 17 09:32:48 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 16 18:05:30 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Warning:  it contains graphic language.<br/>Warning:  it will break your heart.<br/>The main character is a 13 year old girl who experiences moving to a new state, having no one to turn to when her body starts to grow and change, parents of different races in an ugly divorce, being the target of r...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/758850">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/758850]]></url>
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>8</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[12-17-year-old girls and their parents]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Aug 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Aug 14 14:26:01 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Aug 22 20:36:48 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[<strong>*sigh*</strong><br/><br/>I picked up the book Towelhead: A novel because I was intrigued by the New York Times' review of the movie directed by Alan Ball (of Six Feet Under and American Beauty). I also picked it up, because I'm always interested in how authors' portray the burgeoning sexuality of preteen a...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30164692">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30164692]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30164692]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>18002228</id>
    <user>
    <id>62062</id>
    <name><![CDATA[LARRY]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Capitol Heights, MD]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
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    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>5</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Apr 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Mar 18 06:57:58 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jul 10 08:14:13 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[As posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:<br/><br/>Wow! I'm not sure if I'm supposed to like the book because of the style of writing and the bold approach of a topic or if I'm supposed to hate it because of a sensitive topic. I can say one thing...that Erian didn't hold back her creative juices. It's...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18002228">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18002228]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18002228]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>6369845</id>
    <user>
    <id>366958</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Tony]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Francisco, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/366958-tony-dushane]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">1763610</id>
  <isbn>074324494X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780743244947</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">14</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1763610.Towelhead_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.53</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>64</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<p>  Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian¹s well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>3</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Sep 17 23:47:50 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 17 23:52:03 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[i can't wait for the film to come out....directed by alan ball.<br/><br/>her agent just rejected my book, he complimented me on my strong character and distinct voice, but then gave me the let down that it wasn't strong enough in the over saturated marketplace.<br/><br/>i seriously just laugh b/...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6369845">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6369845]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6369845]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>42751810</id>
    <user>
    <id>334035</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Sara]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
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    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jan 11 21:15:40 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jan 18 14:24:06 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Wry, risky, intensely readable. I've never read a more earnest narrative voice that depicted the inner life of a thirteen year old girl. Even though Jasira's adolescent experience was nothing like mine, Erian's crystalline writing made it mine. I cringed for her, I was angry for her, I loved her and...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42751810">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42751810]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42751810]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Marnie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Francisco, CA]]></location>
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    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Sep 11 13:38:34 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Sep 11 13:57:15 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I laughed out loud several times during this book, but maybe it was more of a nervous chuckle.  I don't really consider myself a prude, but this was one of the more sexually explicit books I've read in awhile dealing with the &quot;eww&quot; factor of an adult and a young, young girl, so while I was...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32627522">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32627522]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32627522]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>8950439</id>
    <user>
    <id>270269</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jamie]]></name>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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            <shelf name="coming-of-age" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Nov 11 00:06:54 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Nov 15 22:27:35 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Coming-of-age story starring an extremely sexually precocious thirteen year old whose father is a <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/665738.Control_Freak" title="Control Freak by Christa Faust">control freak</a> and whose mother is immature and irresponsible.  She sends Jasira to live with her father because she perceives that her boyfriend is paying too much attention to her daughter. It is diffi...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8950439">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8950439]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8950439]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>31767224</id>
    <user>
    <id>170163</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Kayla]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Sep 01 17:43:41 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Nov 29 17:31:54 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I picked this book up really not knowing what I was getting myself into.  The further I read, the more I questioned whether or not I should continue.  I did finish it, however, probably because of my incessant curiosity on how a story will end.<br/><br/>I am not exactly sure whether or not I reall...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31767224">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31767224]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31767224]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>37443636</id>
    <user>
    <id>1704805</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Emily]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1704805-emily]]></link>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Kate Hensley]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Nov 11 12:43:32 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Nov 19 15:18:21 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count>1</read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is very powerful book telling a modern day story of culture clash, family dysfunction, child abuse, sexual self-discovery, and finally, redemption. It is &quot;Lolita&quot; told from the girl's point of view - and not a pleasant one at that. Jasira tells her shocking story in a graphic &amp; plains...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37443636">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37443636]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37443636]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>31797223</id>
    <user>
    <id>577976</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Anina]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Washington, DC]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/577976-anina-ertel]]></link>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780743285124</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54881.Towelhead_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Sep 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Sep 02 05:28:48 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Sep 04 06:25:04 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I really liked this and I read it in one day because I couldn't put it down...I even missed Project Runway.  Anyhow, it's not for everyone which is why I gave it 4 not 5 stars.  It's from the perspective of a 13 year old girl who is sexually abused/confused by all the people who are supposed to be t...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31797223">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31797223]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31797223]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>23606389</id>
    <user>
    <id>298148</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Monica]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Saint Paul, MN]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/298148-monica]]></link>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780743285124</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54881.Towelhead_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Jun 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jun 03 10:08:50 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jun 17 13:59:03 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Man.  What can I say about this book?  It was kind of an emotional roller-coaster ride.  I read the whole thing in about a week and a half, so if you're looking for something that will keep your interest, this will not disappoint.  But be prepared to feel violated.  I was so disturbed by every singl...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23606389">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23606389]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23606389]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>29498769</id>
    <user>
    <id>79482</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Sarah]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780743285124</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54881.Towelhead_A_Novel</link>
  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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            <shelf name="booksread2008" />
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Aug 07 05:38:12 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 18 10:30:24 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I'm very eager (and also a bit anxious) to see what Alan Ball's film version of this book will be like. The story had elements of 'American Beauty' (older man/young girl, suburbia, racial issues, the military, etc) but unlike the former, young Jasira is such an innocent that I found myself cringing ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29498769">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29498769]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29498769]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>46798723</id>
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    <id>696370</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Steve]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Lawrence, KS]]></location>
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  <id type="integer">2694853</id>
  <isbn>1416589309</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781416589303</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">11</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/26/853/2694853-m-1255895794.jpg</image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.56</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>34</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[The year is 1991. When Jasira's mother finds out what has been going on between her boyfriend and her thirteen-year-old daughter, she has to make a choice -- and chooses to send Jasira off to Houston¿ Texas, to live with her father. A remote disciplinarian prone to explosive rages, Jasira's father is unable to show his daughter the love she craves -- and far less able to handle her feelings about her changing body.<p>Bewildered by extremes of parental scrutiny and neglect, Jasira begins to look elsewhere for affection. Saddam Hussein has invaded Kuwait, and high school has become a lonely place for a &quot;towelhead.&quot; When her father meets, and forbids her to see, her boyfriend, it becomes lonelier still. But there is always Mr. Vuoso -- a neighboring army reservist whose son Jasira babysits. Mr. Vuoso, as Jasira discovers, has an extensive collection of <em>Playboy</em> magazines. And he doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with Jasira's body at all.<p>Painfully funny, tender, and sexually charged, <em>Towelhead</em> is that rare thing: a gloriously readable novel unafraid to take risks. The story of a girl failed by her parents and by a conflicted America, <em>Towelhead</em> is an ultimately redemptive and moving work that none of us can afford to ignore.<p></p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Feb 18 16:08:21 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Feb 18 16:54:51 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I downloaded the movie on Xbox live a couple months ago and thought it was interesting.  It was directed by Alan Ball, creater of Six Feet Under and writer of American Beauty. Rifat, Jasira's father seemed to be channeling a sinister Raul Julia from the Adam's family. <br/><br/>A couple weeks ago,...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/46798723">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/46798723]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/46798723]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>42750024</id>
    <user>
    <id>1897066</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Bonnie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Sydney, 02, Australia]]></location>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780743285124</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>1</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <read_at>Fri Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jan 11 20:55:35 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jan 11 20:56:30 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Jasira, a 13 year old Arab-American girl has been sent by her mother to live with the Lebanese father she barely knows. Jasira is not happy living with her father; he alienates her with his strict rules, harsh punishments and lack of affection. Alone and confused about her rapidly changing body she ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42750024">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42750024]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42750024]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>68243833</id>
    <user>
    <id>2649169</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Hugh]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Vancouver, BC, Canada]]></location>
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  <isbn13>9780743285124</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Aug 20 15:17:27 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Aug 20 15:24:15 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I loved this book!   What I liked about it was the &quot;greyness&quot; of it.  I first saw the movie on TV...or part of the movie and it made me too uncomfortable, but there definitely was something to it, so I thought I'd read the book. Now I'd like to see the movie again.  Really, there are no pe...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68243833">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68243833]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68243833]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>64374701</id>
    <user>
    <id>1962506</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Suvara]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jul 21 10:10:33 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jul 21 10:11:28 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[The story of Jasira is not that uncommon amongst immigrants or younger people who's parents are from another country; the strictness of a traditional background often conflicts with what is learned outside of the house and what your community finds acceptable.<br/><br/>Jasira struggles with wantin...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64374701">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64374701]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64374701]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>62941327</id>
    <user>
    <id>2266875</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Cynthia]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Syracuse, NY]]></location>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Jul 10 12:37:34 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jul 10 12:56:23 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book is not for everyone.  There are really graphic concepts and images in this book.  If you can't handle it, this is not the book for you. <br/><br/>This book is about a 13 year-old-girl who is starting to learn about herself.  While going through this process she has to deal with a mother ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62941327">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62941327]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62941327]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>58339962</id>
    <user>
    <id>2369662</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Michelle]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Francisco, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2369662-michelle]]></link>
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  <isbn>0743285123</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780743285124</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">249</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234m/54881.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170444234s/54881.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[parents of teens and teens]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jun 03 15:57:46 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jun 06 14:49:24 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book was an interesting read, I can see why they made it into a movie, it reminded me a little of an after school special but with explicit sexual scenes.  It covers a number of difficult issues from the perspective of a 13 year old and for the most part I felt like the perspective was realisti...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58339962">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58339962]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58339962]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>2458832</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Ian]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Woodside, NY]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<br/><br/>Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian's well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <read_at>Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jun 27 15:13:58 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 16 22:55:02 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Satisfyingly ambiguous. The abusive father has a strange charm about him, the rapist is held in disturbingly high esteem by his victim, the horny boyfriend is convincingly both kind and totally self-absorbed, and the narrator's mix of painful awkwardness and total obliviousness rings true. Ultimatel...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2458832">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2458832]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>61754619</id>
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    <location><![CDATA[Jamaica Plain, MA]]></location>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">1763610</id>
  <isbn>074324494X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780743244947</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">14</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Towelhead: A Novel]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1187895429m/1763610.jpg</image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.50</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1087</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with.  And if she can't get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian's incandescent debut novel, <em>Towelhead</em>, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood.  Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him.  In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's <em>Playboy</em> magazines have provided.<p>  Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: &quot;A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me.&quot; The freshness of her narrative voice sets <em>Towelhead</em> apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian¹s well-regarded short story collection, <em>The Brutal Language of Love</em>.  <em>--Regina Marler</em></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
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    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <read_at>Mon May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jul 01 08:04:20 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jul 01 08:11:32 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is a 2.5 from me.<br/><br/>I read this on a plane ride. I finished it, but I think it was more circumstances and a horrid fascination than actual interest. I wanted to make sure Jasira was okay in the end.<br/><br/>The poor girl is subjected to abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual), racis...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61754619">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61754619]]></url>
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