Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Looking for Palestine
Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family | Najla Said
4 posts | 6 read | 3 to read
A frank and entertaining memoir, from the daughter of Edward Said, about growing up second-generation Arab American and struggling with that identity. The daughter of a prominent Palestinian father and a sophisticated Lebanese mother, Najla Said grew up in New York City, confused and conflicted about her cultural background and identity. Said knew that her parents identified deeply with their homelands, but growing up in a Manhattan world that was defined largely by class and conformity, she felt unsure about who she was supposed to be, and was often in denial of the differences she sensed between her family and those around her. The fact that her father was the famous intellectual and outspoken Palestinian advocate Edward Said only made things more complicated. She may have been born a Palestinian Lebanese American, but in Said’s mind she grew up first as a WASP, having been baptized Episcopalian in Boston and attending the wealthy Upper East Side girls’ school Chapin, then as a teenage Jew, essentially denying her true roots, even to herself—until, ultimately, the psychological toll of all this self-hatred began to threaten her health. As she grew older, making increased visits to Palestine and Beirut, Said’s worldview shifted. The attacks on the World Trade Center, and some of the ways in which Americans responded, finally made it impossible for Said to continue to pick and choose her identity, forcing her to see herself and her passions more clearly. Today, she has become an important voice for second-generation Arab Americans nationwide.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
Hasanhayki88
post image

Interesting story of an upbringing of a girl in American society.

review
heatherspoetlife
post image
Pickpick

I could totally relate to the feeling that being a first generation American feels. The way you feel American and not at the same time. They way that you can feel separated from and part of the culture of your parents. That's what most of the book is about but there is also being Edward Said's daughter and, of course, specifics on being of Arab and Lebanese and Palestinian in the decades it covers. I found it to be a lovely memoir.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Sounds very good! 7y
heatherspoetlife @Riveted_Reader_Melissa It was, but after reading some other reviews, I definitely benefited from not having any expectations of what Edward Said's daughter should be like. It looked like his fans tend to hate it. 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @StoredFeminism I found the same thing when I read Love and Loss and What We Ate. I didn't know much about her career or even knew who her ex was until I started reading it, but I really enjoyed it....then saw his fans hated it (often without reading it). 7y
16 likes2 stack adds3 comments
blurb
heatherspoetlife
post image

Just finished my 400th book! That I can really remember...... I tried to add what I remembered reading for school and as a kid, other than picture books, but I know I missed stuff. Yes, I also have quite a few reviews to catch up on, but yay anyway! 400 books!