Read Dangerously

The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times

De: Azar Nafisi

Narrado por: Azar Nafisi

Duración: 8 h y 28 m

Resumen del Editor

The New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran returns with a guide to the power of literature in turbulent times, arming readers with a resistance reading list, ranging from James Baldwin to Zora Neale Hurston to Margaret Atwood.

"[A] stunning look at the power of reading. ... Provokes and inspires at every turn." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

What is the role of literature in an era when one political party wages continual war on writers and the press? What is the connection between political strife in our daily lives, and the way we meet our enemies on the page in fiction? How can literature, through its free exchange, affect politics?

In this galvanizing guide to literature as resistance, Nafisi seeks to answer these questions. Drawing on her experiences as a woman and voracious reader living in the Islamic Republic of Iran, her life as an immigrant in the United States, and her role as literature professor in both countries, she crafts an argument for why, in a genuine democracy, we must engage with the enemy, and how literature can be a vehicle for doing so.

Structured as a series of letters to her father, who taught her as a child about how literature can rescue us in times of trauma, Nafisi explores the most probing questions of our time through the works of Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, James Baldwin, Margaret Atwood, and more.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

©2020 Azar Nafisi (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

An incredible work highlighting the importance of writing (and reading)

“The world knows so much about America, but America knows so little about the rest of the world.” This quote stuck to my soul. It is a reminder of American exceptionalism has shut us off from the rest of the world and it’s beauty. This book encourages Americans to read and learn about others so we do don’t repeat the same mistakes of other cultures or relive our own dark past.

Powerful

I’ve been slow reading this, and meant to do that today but then listened to the letter (why aren’t we all writing letters to our Fathers or Mothers? I have so many questions!) about The Handmaiden Tales and The Testaments, and boy did I learn something while getting stoked up at the same time. Then the James Baldwin chapters—well it’s time for me to read some Baldwin. A fire was lit within writer and reader, let me tell you! It was all over too soon. Thank you, Azar, for sharing these letters and deep thoughts with us.