Nietzsche's Camel Must Die: An Invitation to Say 'No'

by Rewa Zeinati

A humorous look at a dysfunctional Arab society through a series of unrelated Facebook notes written over a period of almost one year. Themes range from religiosity, women's status, gender roles, displacement, marriage, loss, shisha cafes, kitchen sink grinders, missing-cat neighborhood notes, school angst, social stereotypes, to men's beards and open letters.

Foreword by Lebanese writer, poet, women's rights activist and cultural editor, Joumana Haddad, author of SUPERMAN IS AN ARAB and I KILLED SHEHERAZADE.

The book can be purchased online as well through:
http://www.antoineonline.com/Livre_Ni...

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Dubai-based, Lebanese-American poet and writer, Rewa Zeinati, is the founding editor of Sukoon Magazine (www.sukoonmag.com), an Arab-themed, English language, online literary journal.

Her poetry chapbook, Bullets & Orchids, is published by Corrupt Press (2013). http://corruptpress.net/?q=node/58

Her creative nonfiction book entitled, Nietzsche’s Camel Must Die: An Invitation to Say 'No', is published by xanadu* (2013).

Several of her poems, essays, interviews and translations have been published in literary journals and anthologies including, Natural Bridge Journal; Quiddity; Mizna; Al Jadid; The Atrium: A Journal of Academic Voices; The Santa Clara Review; Blood Lotus Journal; Cactus Heart Press; The Bicycle Review; Sampsonia Way Magazine; the anthology, Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration (Editions Bibiotekos, 2010); the anthology, Nowhere Near a Damn Rainbow: Unsanctioned Writing from the Middle East (xanadu*, 2012); the anthology, The UK Poetry Library’s Poets of 2012 (UK Poetry Library, 2012); as well as the online forums, The UK Poetry Library; Every Day Poets; and The English PEN Online World Atlas.

Reviews

[Suha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salmon salad with too much soy dressing. In one way, this book touches every aspect of life we suffer from, Rewa expresses that in a great manner, from the most trivial thing to heavy existential matters : traffic jam in Beirut when it’s raining, weather in Dubai, , a cactus plant, to feminism , religion and philosophy. There is a lot of humor/sarcasm in her writing and you can easily relate to her as an Arab woman reader.
On the other hand, there’s too much “indirect” anger and despair sometimes it wears you out.
However, she clearly pointed out that her book simply represents a collection of notes- daily personal reflections posted on her facebook wall.
I personally liked her style, I can see great potential in a novel by her (looking forward).
It would have been great it was written in Arabic: all that anger/sarcasm about religion & politics, feminism (marriage, hymen, and the pressure of having kids), culture, jargon, etc is to the market of Lebanese/Arab - and are matters already covered in the west but afterall that was not the point of her writing this book.
Moreover, the title is somehow misleading, “Nietzche” in the title catchy but there are only a couple of pages about him and that Camel (mainly in the epliogue).
In a few words, it is not a top book, but I liked Rewa s humbleness, sense of humor, and style , and I am looking forward of more of her writing.

[Mariam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why this book has such a low rating. It is absolutely amazing and is now one of my favorite books.
I picked it by mistake at the store and browsed through it and immediately fell in love with it. I do think though that this book isn't for everyone, but for me personally it was very relatable. Since I'm an Arab that lived in both Dubai and Lebanon. I love her sarcasm and style of writing and since I hate going on Facebook, this book was a life saver. People who read this should keep In mind that it's a compilation of Facebook notes and should expect the same style you normally get in an ordinary book. Lastly, love the art work on the cover and the physical book structure; so easy to handle.!

[Iherig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I'd have liked it more as a facebook note than a book itself. I've shared some of her thoughts but, in general, the type of writing didn't get me engage to it very much.

[Nour · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't engage with the book completely, and found myself skipping pages.