My War at Home

by Masuda Sultan

Book Overview

Born in Kandahar in 1978, Sultan fled to the United States at age five with her family. Raised in Brooklyn and Flushing, Queens, Sultan saw her life change when she was married by arrangement at the young age of seventeen to a virtual stranger fourteen years her senior -- a marriage she struggled to maintain and then hastily fought, eventually (after three years) being granted a divorce. This very divorce would become one of the first in her close-knit...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743480473
• ISBN13: 9780743480475
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

"Uniquely American and Americanly Unique...."

The story of an immigrant seeking the American dream and also the story of an American striving to meld her conservative heritage with Western freedom, Ms. Sultan's tome is a modern day reckoning of the experiences of all peoples who sought bridgehead on the shores of the United States -- set against the backdrop of a war in the backyards of both her past and future, a war where the casualties she experienced were family members, freedom, and in many senses identity. From the embarassment wearing home-made clothes to public school as a child of an illiterate mother, to breaking out of the strangulation of an arranged marriage in her teenage years - to the triumph of influencing the Afghan Constitution in the name of women's rights as an international leader, Ms. Sultan's story reverberates with both common humanness and hums with the timbres of early greatness. Ms. Sultan's book pushes envelopes most other authors don't even know exist. Her story is uniquely American and Americanly unique. At not yet 30, she has already begun to change the world, and this relevant, engaging, provocative, fun, sad, and sometimes disturbing tome are easily a first volume of a life meant to meaningfully impact the planet we inhabit. "My War At Home" is a book for the present and the future.

Beautifully written, courageous, honest and enlightening

I was astounded from the first page of this amazing account and was not able to put the book down until I'd finished it and the issues she raises in her book now have me tied in knots and puzzled as to the solutions. Masuda herself told us she is confused and who in her shoes would not be? How many people would risk even their most precious thing...the relationship with her family in this case, to tell a story that needs to be told? It is even more amazing because Masuda is only 28 years old. Such wisdom is seldom found in people twice Masuda's age; her courage and honesty are exceedingly rare and should be applauded rather than scorned and mislabeled as pandering for attention. Masuda blames noone for what happens to her. In fact that is her point...we have people living in the same country but on completely different planets and people stuck within their own cultures and unable to transcend it even when they themselves are hurt by their beliefs or actions. Afghanistan has impoverished itself with its own denial of education to its people and especially women. At the same time this does not make it right for the United States to impose its culture and kill innocent people in the name of moral superiority or freedom. A messy and complicated story told in a very eloquent and moving way. My head is spinning and I am wondering what I personally can do to help Masuda in her cause. Bravo!!! This book is a must-read for almost everyone and I am sending it to all my friends this year for their birthday.

Fascinating Page-Turner!!

Masuda's story is incredible. I couldn't put it down and have already recommended it to dozens of people. Masuda for President!!

Very insightful, compelling read

If you've ever seen an American Muslim woman walking down the streets of New York or anywhere else in the US and wondered about the many Americas in which we live, this book is for you. How do these people live and think in a USA that is as much theirs as it is ours? My direct experiences of my own country couldn't be more different than Masuda's. I grew up in the mid-west and most of my friends were white mid-westerners. Growing up, I knew on an intellectual level that there are a lot of different ethnicities that make up our country but every time I passed a Hassidic Jew, an American Hindu wearing a turban or an American Muslim woman covering her hair I wondered what their lives were like and how they experienced America. This book offers amazing insight into how this specific minority lives and thinks. What's more, upon meeting Masuda (disclaimer - I have) you could also come to the conclusion that no one is more quintessentially American. She seems to completely bridge the gap and can relate to me as much as I imagine her being able to relate to a shop keeper in Kabul. The more people like her that we have helping us understand our interlocutors in the Middle East the better off America will be. Masuda shows us that we're all human and that understanding the perspective of the other side is key to reaching any long-lasting mutually beneficial relationship with their countries of origin.