Osama Van Halen

by Michael Muhammad Knight

Book Overview

Amazing Ayyub, an Iranian Shi'ite skinhead, and Rabeya, a burqa-wearing punk, have kidnapped Matt Damon and are holding him hostage. They demand that Hollywood depict Muslims in a positive light--"just one movie where we're not these two-dimensional al Qaeda stereotypes." But Damon's concerned they're playing into that same terrorist paradigm, thereby furthering the neoconservative perception of Islam.

Meanwhile, Ayyub embarks on a mission to rid the taqwacore scene of a Muslim pop-punk band called Shah 79. Along the way, he makes himself invisible, escapes punk-eating zombies in a mosque off the desert highway, and runs into some psychobilly jinns. Things turn existential when Ayyub finds himself face-to-face with his creator--no, not Allah, but the author.

This riotous journey of enlightenment reads like a religious service for teenagers on Halloween. But it isn't all raucous fun; written into his own novel, the author finds he is at the mercy of his creation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593762429
• ISBN13: 9781593762421
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Soft Skull
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"