The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East [Hardcover]

Adam Valen Levinson is too young to have written a book this good: eloquent, analytical, funny, sad. The Middle East is a wondrous and strange and supernatural place, hard to articulate in all the different shades and shadows. But Levinson absolutely nailed it in a brilliant first book.A fabulously written primer on the darkest countries in the worldor not so dark, as Valen Levinson shows with his toolkit of sharp sociology and brilliant humor. This brave, humane, hilarious, and introspective account of his adventures is a must-read.A thrilling, riotous, sympathetic read that reminds us that little in the world is truly foreign, bringing the peoples and cultures of the Middle East nearer to us, and pushing hatred and fear farther away.Overturning clich? to find a deeper humanity, the funny Valen Levinson is always fearless, and occasionally pantsless.Levinson manages to establish his own voice admirably, with an endearing mixture of ironic self-awareness, incisive sociological analysis, and simple humor&.The authors linguistic riffs are a highlight and more insightful than the norm for travel writing.[Valen] Levinson skillfully relates aspects of his destinations' histories alongside his journalist's observations and personal thoughts and emotions in this unique and illuminating travelogue.Levinson is a gifted storyteller.Chronically questioning, funny, and bold,a young American explores themajority-Muslim lands that scare him most.