Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey
by Alison Wearing
List Price:
Our Price: $4.22
You Save: $10.78 (72%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Alison WearingEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-12-07
ISBN: 0312263449
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey
Book Review: If u are iranian u have to read it
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is really simple, funny and educational for whom like to know about Iranian culture and their way of life. I suggest all Canadian/Iranian (( the writer is Canadian, who travels to Iran )) to read this book and bet you gonna have moments of tear and laughter w surprising ending.
Also, if you are planning to have an exotic trip to Iran, read this book, bet you gonna buy your flight ticket the day after;>
Summary of Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey
With a love of travel, Alison Wearing invites us to journey with her to Iran--a country that few Westerners have a chance to see. Traveling with a male friend, in the guise of a couple on their honeymoon, Wearing set out on her own at every available opportunity. She went looking for what lay beneath the media's representation of Iran and found a country made up of welcoming, curious, warmhearted, ambitious men and women. With humor and compassion, Wearing gives Iranians the chance to wander beyond headlines and stereotypes, and in doing so, reveals the poetry of their lives--those whose lives extend beyond Western news stories of kidnapping, terrorism, veiled women, and Islamic fundamentalism.Twenty years after the Iranian revolution, most westerners still imagine Iran to be a warren of anti-American rhetoric, terrorism, and fanatical repression, especially of women. Not surprisingly, only an unusual woman would choose to travel there, and Alison Wearing is certainly that. "I refused to believe that such a place of unalloyed evil truly existed," she writes. "I like to look for saints where there are said to be demons." Since it is the only country the world traveler could not imagine going to alone, she takes her fussy, gay roommate Ian, along with a fake wedding certificate and a story that they're on their honeymoon. Then she dons a black cloak, scarf, and chador (the full body covering required by Shiite Islam) for a five-month journey from the Caspian Sea (breaking into the Shah's ramshackle summer palace) to the holy city of Qom (and Khomeini's shrine) to a hidden Zoroastrian prayer site (where she faints from heat stroke). From the moment she steps into the country, she's surrounded by Iranians touched by her eagerness to learn about their country. There is the housewife who challenges her to a game of Ping-Pong in her long robe and scarf, offering food to her guests in between killer serves, and the Anglican minister who is "wholly enthralled by the art of living." There is the couple who spirit her away to a mountain oasis when she complains of the heat (leaving a message for Ian, "Mister Canada, we take your wife. We make her cold"), and the mother who tries to marry off her doctor son, joking that Wearing can't leave "not without my doctor" (a reference to the American film Not Without My Daughter).
Wearing has a gift for connecting with others and the humility to let them tell their own stories. She also sees the hilarity in the most absurd situations. As it turns out, so do the Iranians, which makes for some wonderful laughs. Wearing is also a poet, and she unveils the Iranians with innocence and grace--their hospitality, their quick acceptance and easy intimacy, and the real life of women beneath the veil. And while there are strict defenders of the revolution, most are philosophical: "Friends, please forgive us, but our country is not perfect.... it will make us very happy if you enjoy. Keep your hearts in our people, my friends. We are strangers, but we try to be kind." This is a gem of a debut. --Lesley Reed
Essays & Travelogues Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Essays & Travelogues Books
Inside Passage: Living With Killer Whales, Bald Eagles, and Kwakiutl Indiansby Michael Modzelewski
Adventures Unlimited (FL); Published: 1997-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops:
PrairyErth (A Deep Map): An Epic History of the Tallgrass Prairie Countryby William Least Heat-Moon
Mariner Books; Published: 1999-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.80
Price in other shops:
Live From Jordan: Letters Home From My Journey Through the Middle Eastby Benjamin Orbach
AMACOM; Published: 2007-04-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
A Walk For Sunshine: A 2,160 Mile Expedition For charity On The Appalachian Trail (3rd ed.)by Jeff Alt
Dreams Shared Publications; Published: 2009-09-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.85
Price in other shops:
The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapadeby Lynette Chiang
Small Wheel Press; Published: 2004-06-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.93
Price in other shops:
The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablancaby Tahir Shah
Bantam; Published: 2006-12-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.90
Price in other shops:
Man-Eaters of Kumaon (Oxford India Paperbacks)by Jim Corbett
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1993-06-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.37
Price in other shops:
My Family and Other Animalsby Gerald Durrell
House of Stratus; Published: 2003-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $31.45
Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacyby Eric Hansen
Vintage; Published: 2001-02-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
A Sand County Almanac And Sketches Here And Thereby Aldo Leopold
Topeka Bindery; Published: 2000-02; School & Library Binding; Book
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesiaby Elizabeth Gilbert
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroadby Firoozeh Dumas
Villard; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.94
Price in other shops:
The Inheritance of Lossby Kiran Desai
Grove Press; Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iranby Hooman Majd
Doubleday; Published: 2008-09-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.21
Price in other shops:
Things I've Been Silent About: Memoriesby Azar Nafisi
Random House; Published: 2008-12-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops:
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Timeby Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops:
A Thousand Splendid Sunsby Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2008-11-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.29
Price in other shops:
Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iranby Christiane Bird
Washington Square Press; Published: 2002-02-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iranby Elaine Sciolino
Free Press; Published: 2005-09-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.61
Price in other shops:
Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iranby Azadeh Moaveni
Random House; Published: 2009-02-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.80
Price in other shops: