The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East - eBook
9780393608373
0-393-60837-9
Chronically questioning, funny, and bold, a young American explores the majority-Muslim lands that scare him most.Armed only with college Arabic and restless curiosity, Adam Valen Levinson sets out to learn about the world 9/11 made us fear. From a base in globalized and sterilized Abu Dhabi, he sets out to lunch in Taliban territory in Afghanistan, travels under the watchful eye of Syrias secret police, risks shipwreck en route to Somalia, investigates Yazidi beliefs in a sacred cave, cliff dives in Oman, celebrates New Years Eve in Tahrir Square, and, at every turn, discovers a place that matches not at all with its reputation.Valen Levinson crosses borders with wisecracking humor, erudition, and humanity, seeking common ground with bros everywhere, and finding that people who pray differently often laugh the same. And as a young man bar mitzvahed eight years late, he slowly learns how childish it is to live by decisions and distinctions born of fear.