Arts and Culture
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LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET: THE MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL GALA
In the end, rumors were false and Omar Sharif did not show up for the screening of Al Mosafar (The Traveler), the opening night movie of the Middle East Film Festival in which he stars. But most of the other actors in the film did, as well as several other stars from around the world. Continue reading
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Fatima’s Fig Tree
One of the last things I did before leaving Jordan this week was to go into the backyard of my family’s home to see if another fig was ready for the picking. It’s also the first thing I’d done when I arrived there, upon my mother’s insistence. We’re a family that gets pretty excited about Continue reading
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Jordan’s National Dish: Mansaf
It’s Friday in Jordan. Family get together day. Mansaf day. The first time I went to Jordan, my uncle took me to Jabri. “This is the only decent restaurant in town,” he said. “Order the mansaf.” I did and found myself faced with an almost intimidating amount of rice generously topped with lamb shanks simmered Continue reading
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The Sacremento Book Review & The Night Counter
http://sacramentobookreview.com/modern_literature/the-night-counter/ The Night Counter Posted by Editor at 8 September, 2009, 9:25 am By Alia Yunis Shaye Areheart Books, $23.00, 365 pages When the immortal storyteller Scheherazade gives Fatima Abdullah 1,001 nights to tell the great stories of her life, Fatima begins to prepare for her death. Between getting her affairs in order, Fatima spends Continue reading
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The Boston Globe Review
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/08/09/in_dunants_sacred_hearts_a_story_of_thwarted_love_and_church_intrigue/ “In Alia Yunis’s poignant, hilarious first novel, “The Night Counter,’’ purple-haired, 85-year-old Fatimah Abdulla tells her life story to Scheherazade, the legendary storyteller from “The Arabian Nights,’’ who appears every night in the elderly woman’s Los Angeles bedroom. Fatimah has plenty of stories. She came to Detroit from Lebanon as a teenage bride, had Continue reading
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One Hundred Years Twenty Years Later
During my tour of The Night Counter, I was often asked either “What writers have influenced you the most?’ or “Who are you favorite writers?” I have no answer for the first because to say Gabriel Garcia Marquez influenced me is to say that I’ve made some conscious choice to use his style or tone Continue reading
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RAMADAN IN DETROIT
Here in Abu Dhabi Ramadan is essentially a national event, a month of family celebration as well as religious significance, with virtually every Emirati fasting. In THE NIGHT COUNTER, Fatima doesn’t talk about Ramadan but she is someone who fasts the whole month. Fatima spent most of her life in Detroit, which is the largest Continue reading
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PENN, CHEESESTEAKS, AND BROTHERLY LOVE
A week ago I was in Philadelphia reading at the Penn Bookstore, my first East Coast stop. I was pretty uncomfortable about Philadelphia, as it was a city I had no base in, so I accepted the offers of two friends to come down from New Jersey and New York for the event, bringing along Continue reading
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The Washington Post Review
It’s pretty cool to get reviewed by one of the book critics you respect the most. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081303267.html A SCHERHEZADE FOR OUR TIMES LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO 1,001 NIGHTS By Carolyn See Special to The Washington Post Friday, August 14, 2009 Shaye Areheart. 365 pp. $24 Some people write about death, dying and tragedy as if Continue reading
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The Minneapolis Star Tribune and Other Reasons I Love Minnesota
The Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote a great review of The Night Counter in its Sunday edition: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/52617702.html (Link also posted under The Night Counter Press & Reviews here) But that is not the only reason I was excited to do a reading for Mizna (www.mizna.org) in Minneapolis on Saturday. Minnesota has been a part of Continue reading
Alia Yunis 