wow..

[Laura]

I am currently reading this...I read the brief summary and got very confused... "With example after example, he shows that ever since the Greeks Western civilization has always had a strand in its very makeup that has accepted non-Westerners with open arms and has ever been open to foreign ideas."

this really bothers me as a student studying race and ethnicity in america....where so many people are murdered, etc for having foreign ideas...not only that, and i mean i not through the entire book yet, but I really hope he addresses the issue of colonialism, I am eager to read his opinions on that.

It is fair to say not everyone is intolerant in the U.S., but illogical to make this statement go any further.

what makes this author so intriguing for people (especially western readers) is he is an 'arab' (looking, even though he is from pakistan) man with opposed views to what americans would stereotype him as, therefore those who have negative views of the arab world, automatically cling to this book for so called logical explanations behind irrationals beliefs.

why he uses a pen name, i think i can understand, I would be embarrassed too if this was the most logical piece of writing I could conjure. Very disappointed so far.

[Michael]

I definitely agree with you that the brief summary needs to be redone for clarity.

[S]

Dear Laura, I agree with you that it would have been interesting to hear Ibn Warraq's views about colonialism because he dares to speak up, argues clearly and has vast historical knowledge.
But I must point out a fallacy in your argument; you "accuse" Americans of stereotyping, then you stereotype Americans and Western readers as holding "irrational beliefs". This is a case in point. Said's book "accused" not only orientalists, but the whole Western world of stereotyping and belittling. Then he stereotyped and belittled like few before him.
A critical reply has been long overdue.
Btw, could you specify what the "Irrational beliefs" that you mention are?