Book set in Peshawar, Pakistan. Reviewed on 2019/05: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx7WJ1pAV_9/
I don’t know about this book. A few interesting premises intertwined with some enticing writing that ultimately do not amount for much. I still have no idea what is holding these chapters or aspects of #adensawyer ‘s life together and quite frankly by the end I didn’t want to know at all. Is this the #pakistani madrasa version of Yentl the yeshiva boy? Is this a #comingofagestory? Is this a response to islamophobia and extremism in our post-9/11 world? Is this a myopic bio of the American taliban? I usually love books that mix a lot of unanswered questions. But #johnwray seems lost in the labyrinth of his own questioning. A feeling of lost which is transposed on his characters and ultimately the reader. Given the importance of the topic and the thirst for readers to understand, I think people end up seeing whatever they want to in this book. #fsg and #macmillan don’t make it any easy either with their massive and well-connected marketing apparatus. I tend to be very cautious and critical of these big publishers. They don’t care about the writers or the stories and they certainly do not lose sleep over readers. They have a set business model which they have to fulfill. As readers, we have a choice of not following into that business model. Anyway read this book if you want to. I’d recommend you not to at all. And if you do, please ignore all the flashing recommendations online and try to concentrate in the lack of anything weaving the story together. #next#crossdressing #pakistan #peshawar#afghanistan #california#religiousawakening#everythinggoeswrong #genderqueerlit#farrarstrausgiroux #godsend #wray#pashtu #conversion
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