Azar Nafisi formed a book club in Tehran comprised of seven young women who got together to discuss such books as THE GREAT GATSBY, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, DAISY MILLER, and, of course, LOLITA--books forbidden by the Islamic government. In this memoir, Nafisi, who was expelled from the country for refusing to wear the veil, writes about those women, the books, and her own career as a teacher of English literature--first in Iran, now (less precariously) at Johns Hopkins.
critical reviews
"[A]n eloquent brief on the transformative powers of fiction--on the refuge from ideology that art can offer to those living under tyranny, and art's affirmative and subversive faith in the voice of the individual....In this resonant and deeply affecting memoir, Ms. Nafisi pays tribute to all [her students'] lives and to the books that sustained them during some of the darkest days of the Iranian cultural revolution." - John R. Oneal (New York Times, 3/15/03)
"A spirited tribute both to the classics of world literature and to resistance against oppression." - (Kirkus, 2/15/03)
"There are certain books by our most talented essayists...that...carry inside their covers the heat and struggle of a life's central choice being made and the price being paid, while the writer tells us about other matters, and leaves behind a path of sadness and sparkling loss. READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN is such a book." - T. B. Edwards (Atlantic Monthly, 6/1/03)
"You have to spend a lifetime reading to write as well as Nafisi does. She is incapable of writing a trite or bad sentence....READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN had a most unusual effect on me. I didn't want to be interrupted, so I canceled a dental appointment and a business lunch and missed a deadline. I read and read and ignored the world. This is what brilliant books will do...." - Jill MacLeod Clark (Nation, 6/16/03)
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"Nafisi weaves a wonderful tale. This book lured me into's its world. I was fascinated, engaged, and speechless. I had not idea how truly sheltered I was... an over educated 58 year old professional living in NYC....this brought me a new appreciation for the opressed women of Iran and the world,the art form of fiction, great literature of..." see more
"This book got me very interested in reading classic literature! Feel like I learned a lot - not so much about Iran, but about fiction. Very interesting!"
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