RANDA JARRAR

The paperback edition of A MAP OF HOME is now available from Penguin books.

You can get it at your local bookstore or on Amazon, Powells, or B&Noble.

About the book: Randa Jarrar’s fresh, funny and fearless debut novel chronicles the coming-of-age of Nidali, one of the most unique and irrepressible narrators in contemporary fiction. Born in 1970s Boston to an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, the rebellious Nidali—whose name is a feminization of the word “struggle”— soon moves to a very different life in Kuwait. There the family leads a mildly eccentric middle-class existence—until the Iraqi invasion drives them first to Egypt and then to Texas. With echoes of Jhumpa Lahiri and Marjane Satrapi, this critically acclaimed debut novel is set to capture the hearts of everyone who’s ever wondered what their own map of home might look like.

Also, I did an interview with Zocalo which you can read here.

The Austin-American Statesman profiled me in their Books section.

Electronic Intifada, which I love, reviewed my book here.

Enjoy!

…my fall-back home. I moved down here about a month ago to focus on writing the new novel and to do so in a warm climate. I will miss the Arab-American mecca that is Michigan, but I will not miss the seven month Winters.

To give you an idea of what my new novel is like, I’ll share with you the books and objects currently parked at my desk.

Angela Carter: Saints and Strangers and the Old Wives’ Fairy Tale Book.

The Making of Iraq, 1900-1963 by Samira Haj

Two different Mythology encyclopedias, and a scholarly book on Myths.

Candide, by Voltaire

The Devil’s Dictionary, by Ambrose (lost in Mexico) Bierce

Haddawy’s edition of the Arabian Nights

Santera: African Magic in Latin America

The Book of Imaginary Beings, by JL Borges

A picture of the Virgin Mary and child

A Jaime Hernandez drawing of a woman walking out of an East LA apartment in red cape.

Smoking rabbit toys.

A tiny toy sewing machine.

A Fairy door.

Two notebooks.

A wrapped cube of Nablus soap, all the way from Palestine.

Postcards.

A poster of Umm Kulthum.

My computer, on which about 50,000 words have so far been written.

I have a title, but I’m too shy to share.

Meanwhile, A Map of Home is released in paperback tomorrow. Be sure to pick up a copy for a friend if you liked it and want to share Nidali’s raucous voice with others.