Book Announcement: War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims (Melody Moezzi)

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Book Announcement: War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims (Melody Moezzi)

Review
“Engaging and well-written.”

—Publisher’s Weekly

“A thoughtful and moving effort to come to terms with being an American Muslim from a positive and proactive perspective.”

—From the foreword

“These voices should be heard and these stories must be told.”

—Suzanne Blum, coauthor of Translating Culture: A Rhetoric for Ethnographic Writing in the Composition Classroom

Product Description
War on Error brings together the stories of twelve young people, all vastly different but all American, and all Muslim. Their approaches to religion couldn’t be more diverse: from a rapper of Korean and Egyptian descent to a bisexual Sudanese American to a converted white woman from Colorado living in Cairo and wearing the hijab. These individuals, whether they were born to the religion or came to it on their own, have made their own decisions about how observant they’ll be, whether or not to fast, how often to pray, and what to wear.
Though each story is unique, each is also seen through the searching eyes of Melody Moezzi, herself an American Muslim of Iranian descent. She finds that the people she interviews are horrified that, in a post-9/11 world, they have seen their religion come to be represented, in the minds of many Americans, by terrorism. These thoughtful and articulate individuals represent the truth about the faith and its adherents who are drawn to the logic, compassion, and tolerance they find in Muslim teachings.

Moezzi, ever comfortable with contradiction and nuance, is a likable narrator whose underlying assumption that “faith is greater than dogma” is strengthened as she learns more about her religion and faces her own biases and blind spots. This fresh new voice, combined with the perceptions and experiences of her fellow American Muslims, make for a read that is both illuminating and enjoyable.

 

 

From the Publisher
Fresh voices of American Muslims

 

From the Back Cover
“Though much has been written and said about ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ post 9-11, the real stories of Muslim Americans have received little attention . . . I wrote this book because I have faith that Americans can and want to see past the sensationalism to something real.”
—From the introduction


“A thoughtful and moving effort to come to terms with being an American Muslim from a positive and proactive perspective.”
—From the foreword

 

“These voices should be heard and these stories must be told.”
—Suzanne Blum, coauthor of Translating Culture: A Rhetoric for Ethnographic Writing in the Composition Classroom

 

 

About the Author
Born in 1979, Melody Moezzi grew up mostly in Dayton, Ohio amid a strong and vibrant Iranian-American diaspora. She earned a BA in philosophy from Wesleyan University, as well as a JD and a Masters in Public Health from Emory University. She is a practicing attorney, as well as a contributing writer for Urban Mozaik Magazine and American Chronicle. Her work has appeared in Dissident Voice, Parabola, and the Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine. Moezzi lives in Atlanta with her husband, Matthew, and their two cats, Olyan and Talula.


Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law, and the author of African Constitutionalism and the Contingent Role of Islam.

 

Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press (October 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1557288550
ISBN-13: 978-1557288554

Available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/War-Error-Stories-American-Muslims/dp/1557288550/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256676527&sr=1-1

 

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