Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West

By Behzad Yaghmaian

Book Overview

An eye-opening personal account of an epic human drama, Embracing the Infidel takes us on an astounding journey along a modern-day underground railroad that stretches from Istanbul to Paris. In this... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 055380393X
• ISBN13: 9780553803938
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

a great, interesting read that i recommend to everyone

This is one of those books that you can't put down once you start. Each story captures you, almost making you wonder if they can be true, but you just trust Behzad of the accuracy and keep reading for the next eye-opening story. He is able to get so many personal, different experiences of the same problem, it's quite remarkable and exceptional. One of the best books I've read in years.

remarkably well written

This book took me back to my own journey. After 7 years I relived it again. I found myself once more among those migrants, walking and running through swamps, rivers and endless mountains. I remembered how scared I was. Many thanks to Mr. Yaghmaian. He reminded me of how lucky I am, not only being here in Canada, but also having a second chance to live.

"Giving Voice To Those Greatly Ignored"

Behzad Yaghmaian's elegant book succeeds in doing what other reports concerning Muslims' migration to the West fails: he gives voice to actual human beings. "Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West" takes its' place alongside the best oral histories of our time, including those written by Studs Terkel. Instead of the false veil of objectivity, the author immerses himself into the story, into the personal stories that each of the subjects embodies. He sits with the people he writes about, breaks bread with them, laughs and cries with them. And the poignancy, pathos and compassion he used in the interviews that became this book shines through. The author captures the ambivelence created by doing what the title suggests, "embracing the infidel". While this book is not really a political book or a book about Middle East economics, it shows you the face of those subjects and the importance of that is unquantifiable. In a time when much is done to "de-humanize" the other, Behzad Yaghmaian not only humanizes the "other" but also shows us that what's happened to "them" could happen to us. The author's fluid and lyrical writing style and humor makes this important book one that you should get.

An Important Book

Bezhad Yaghmaian's new book EMBRACING THE INFIDEL tells powerful, haunting stories of Muslim migrants in their painful and sometimes desperate efforts to leave their homelands and find a better life in western Europe--if they can get there. Besieged and beaten by the authorities, robbed and cheated by human smugglers, these migrants find a friend in the author, a compassionate listener who cares deeply about them and wants the world to notice and address the migrants' plight. But the author does not preach to readers; he simply presents the truth as he sees it and as the migrants tell it. This is an important book.

A Triumph of a Book

This beautiful book gives voices and faces to those most always left invisible and voicelesss--migrants coming to the West to flee persecution or in hope of a better future. The stories are heartbreaking, and the treatment these people receive at the hands of governments and human smugglers left me outraged. But Yaghmaian tells their stories so beautifully and warmly, I mainly felt richer for having known them. "Embracing the Infidel" succeeds wonderfully as both literature and as damning journalism. You cannot remain unmoved by these stories, or wonder at the heartlessness of our current system of borders. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the world that migrants move through, or, perhaps more so, the human story.