Arabian Jazz

by Diana Abu-Jaber

Book Overview

In Diana Abu-Jaber's "impressive, entertaining" (Chicago Tribune) first novel, a small, poor-white community in upstate New York becomes home to the transplanted Jordanian family of Matussem Ramoud: his grown daughters, Jemorah and Melvina; his sister Fatima; and her husband, Zaeed. The widower Matuseem loves American jazz, kitschy lawn ornaments, and, of course, his daughters. Fatima is obsessed with seeing her nieces married--Jemorah is nearly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393324222
• ISBN13: 9780393324228
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 390 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A small masterpiece

Briliant! Showing a deft touch for character and charming with high hilarity, Diana Abu-Jaber introduces us to a world so beautifully realized it can only be described as saturated. Caught by ancestry, the role of women in Jordan and America, family tragedy, personal ambition, romance, and anxiety, two sisters strive to rework a habitable America. Abu-Jaber's Dickensian ability to juggle a burgeoning cast and her enormous tragicomic talent (reminiscent of Louise Erdrich and Annie Proulx) produce a jewel of a book. A series of darting revelations instantly grace what had been even some of the book's stock characters with a presence and beauty that had me making silent "oh's" with my mouth.

De LaUnaBella

I loved this book. The characters were multi dimensional, and very realistic. It is a fictional work that provides a birds' eye view into a sub culture that is very real and rich in America.

Love it!

Got this book for Christmas, and read it in two days. What a great story from one of the truly original voices to come along in a long time. This book examines life in a way that is funny and inspiring. The writing is thoughtful and highly crafted, without losing the humor of every day life. Definitely read this book.

An astonishing examination of life, love, and lost worlds.

This is one of the most beautifully written, beautifully conceived, and masterfully executed works of fiction I have read in years. I would liken its comic force to the very best of John Barth or Italo Calvino; its tragic dimensions are reminiscent of Annie Proulx's Postcards. Arabian Jazz is a small masterpiece, as finely crafted as polished stone. Anyone who wishes to see where fiction ought to take us should read this book.

I happened to read this novel as suggested by a freind.

Diana Abu Jaber crosses the boundries of motherless children, war, love, sex and human spirit. What more could you want in a compelling, novel, a window into your neighbors bedroom. Read it and grow.