 2008-11-30 - Iranian cultural nuances
Hooman Majd has done a fantastic job of describing Iranian cultural nuances to non Iranians.
I am an Iranian myself and I've never seen anyone describing the subtleties of my culture with this level of eloquence and clarity. Ta'arouf is very complex to explain and in my opinion Hooman has nailed it brilliantly. Hooman khodaast! (Hooman is god!) ... here you go, a Persian gholov (hyperbole) for you Amazon readers ;-)
Not to Mr Majd, time to write about America and American culture for Iranian people. Let's keep the dialogue going; let's disappoint the warmongers on both sides.
 2008-11-29 - Light and chatty but informative
It is very difficult for westerners to understand Iran, but also very important to do so. I am recommending this book to my students, as it is an easy read (they all carry heavy workloads with their classes) and, since the author is a western brought-up Iranian, its stories (it is told mainly in anecdote) are explained well for western understanding but with credibility. I enjoyed this book and also came away with a better understanding of Iran.
2008-11-23 - Iran more democratic than I thought
I discovered something very interesting from this book: by the standards of the neighborhood, Iran is a fairly democratic state. The president is elected by popular vote and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The legislature is elected. In both cases, reformers sometimes win the elections and take office.
Of course, the guy that really controls the country is the "Supreme Leader," but he is also elected, albeit not directly, and may be impeached! These tasks are performed by a special body elected by the people, a little like a permanent Electoral College, the body that actually elects US presidents.
The Supreme Leader can overrule any action by the President and Legislature and can disqualify anyone for running for office. Thus, the Supreme Leader really controls the country. However, by tradition, the Supreme Leader does not usually interfere with day-to-day governance, but rather weighs in fairly rarely.
By contrast, most other governments in the region are simply dictatorships, including close US ally Saudi Arabia. Exceptions are Iraq and (sometimes) Pakistan, both of which are a bit more democratic that Iran.
2008-11-17 - Excellent and affectionate analysis of modern Iran
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and was really taken with the humorous aspects of it. All the propaganda we get in the US about Iran is that it's filled with murderous ayatollahs and their underlings, when in fact it's full of ordinary people who are trying to live their lives (well, there are some murderous types there, too). I really appreciated the author's efforts to get the reader to understand the underlying religious and secular strains in modern Iran and how they affect everyone in the country. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand Iran today. It could help prevent another disasterous war in the region.
2008-10-28 - Understanding the Persian mind--a book about how Persians think
What a very nice surprise it was to see that much of the book is about the centuries-old interpersonal nuances that dominate social interactions. It reminded me of how in the 1970's everyone was trying to "learn" how to do business with the Japanese by learning their cultural ways. My only concern is that the Persian way of doing things, saying things, not saying things, etc. is going to make foreign policy even more complicated. But for those trying to understand the Middle East, this book is essential reading for its unique insight into the Persian mind.
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