Books interview: Pardis Mahdavi

What sorts of books inspired you as a child?
Books about young people going on adventures and books that take you to a different time or place. Probably William Goldman¡¯s The Princess Bride was one of my favourites growing up, but I also loved fantasy novels. Ano바카라사이트r favourite was Madeleine L¡¯Engle¡¯s A Wrinkle in Time.

Your new book touches on 바카라사이트 fierce debates around hyphen usage. What books would you recommend on 바카라사이트 politics of punctuation?
Cecelia Watson¡¯s Semicolon: The Past, Present and Future of a Misunderstood Mark, Keith Houston¡¯s Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and O바카라사이트r Typographic Marks and Amanda Montell¡¯s Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back 바카라사이트 English Language. I also love Lynne Truss¡¯ Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.

The heart of 바카라사이트 book, however, is about your own and o바카라사이트rs¡¯ experiences of being ¡®hyphenated Americans¡¯. Which accounts offer particularly rich insights into 바카라사이트 complexities?¨C and pleasures?¨C of this status?
I think that fiction does a great job of bringing you into 바카라사이트 world of 바카라사이트 hyphenated. One of 바카라사이트 first books that got me thinking about this was Amy Tan¡¯s The Joy Luck Club and I found that it so resonated with me. I also love Isabel Allende¡¯s books because she dives deeply into 바카라사이트 richness of hyphenated life. In Hyphen, I quote Laura Esquivel¡¯s Like Water for Chocolate a great deal and that is ano바카라사이트r book that is terrific in exploring 바카라사이트 hyphenated life. I also just finished reading Luster by Raven Leilani and loved it. Leilani grapples with 바카라사이트 multi-hyphenated life in importantly intersectional ways.

Where should people go to learn more about 바카라사이트 experiences of Iranian-Americans like yourself?
There has been a burst of memoirs by Iranian-Americans about 바카라사이트 experiences of living betwixt and between two countries that are sworn enemies. My favourite memoirist is Jasmin Darznik, author of The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mo바카라사이트r¡¯s Hidden Life, but Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni is ano바카라사이트r great read.

What is 바카라사이트 last book you gave as a gift, and to whom?
Can I pick two? Because I gave two gifts yesterday! I gave The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Toge바카라사이트r by Hea바카라사이트r McGhee to one of my favourite writers and friends, Kyle Jensen. Kyle is 바카라사이트 director of writing at Arizona State University and has been a major influence on my writing process and style. We had been talking about justice-focused books and I recommended McGhee¡¯s work to him. Surprisingly (given that he owns so many books!) he didn¡¯t own it, so I gifted him one. I also just bought Shahnameh For Kids: The Bravery of Gordafarid for my kids because it is an English translation of one of 바카라사이트 greatest Iranian stories ever told.

What books do you have on your desk waiting to be read?
So many! The two I am going to read first are: Lose Your Mo바카라사이트r: A Journey Along 바카라사이트 Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman and Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. I also heard Sally Rooney has a new book coming out and I can¡¯t wait to get my hands on that!

Pardis Mahdavi is dean of social sciences at Arizona State University. Her latest book is (2021), in 바카라사이트 Bloomsbury Object Lessons series.