Learning English by Rachid al-Daif, trans. from the Arabic by Paula and Adnan Haydar.

Facilitated by Joe Leidy, PhD candidate in modern Middle Eastern history at Brown University.  A native of Burlington, he has an MA in Middle East Studies from University of Texas at Austin and has studied Arabic in Jordan and the West Bank, as well as, archival research in Argentina and Lebanon.

Free copies of the book are available to borrow from the Library's main desk.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

No matter how hard Rachid tries to recreate himself, to become educated and worldly-to learn English-it is impossible for this hip Beiruti with his cell phone and high-speed internet to sever the connection to his past in the Lebanese village of Zgharta, known for its tough guys and old-fashioned clan mentality. When the news of his father's murder, a case of blood revenge, reaches him by chance through a newspaper report, it drags him inescapably back into the world of his past. Suddenly he is plunged once again into the endless questions that plagued his childhood.