We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys getting the in-depth story from the actual people who are living it, rather than the politicized, over-simplified version that you get from the mainstream media. If you've ever asked yourself, "what is up with Iran?!" this is the book for you. Ms. Alavi risks her life in publishing it, as do the bloggers. It's a testimony to the extraordinary value of free speech that we who have it must never forget to appreciate. This book contains excerpts from blogs written by Iranians. Ms. Alavi intersperses the blogs with historical, cultural, and statistical information about Iran (and Persia). It's fascinating, easy to read, eye-opening, encouraging, and very well-written. It's the kind of book that students in Iranian studies classes should be reading.

All my life I've had the vague idea that Persia was the source of one of the world's most important cultures, but I would have had a hard time explaining why. No longer. Alavi covers a truly impressive range of topics in her exploration of the Iranian blogosphere, from pre-Islamic festivals to postmodern music, but what she does best is *sell* Iran and Iranian culture. After reading this book, I've not only started collecting Iranian recordings and renting Iranian DVDs, I've also decided that life is too short not to learn Persian. If the Iranian authorities were smart, they'd name her Minister of Culture.

I have just finished reading this book and it has been an amazing journey. I visit Iran almost every year and kind of know what is going on, but I don't live there so I could not pretend to understand the depth of feelings of people living there and why they complained so much when it has improved so much since the war. But now I think I understand the difference... its about hopes and dreams and the ability to make them real. This is a poor analogy, but if you have ever had to flip burgers during vacation you might not think it was a tough job, but if you were doing that job for 20 years and had the ability and imagination to be much more, but weren't allowed to, it would be the hardest job in the world. Maybe that's what makes these blogs so moving? In that despite the obvious heartache and frustration they are still threaded with hope and belief that they will make their dreams come true. The book might not include every opinion in Iran and yes, by selecting blogs as a source, the book can not be 100% proportionally representative of every Iranian thought. People who can't read, don't have a computers etc. But that doesn't make the book any less insightful or less unique. Without it, what is the next best thing to really reflecting the thoughts of Iranians? Friday prayer speeches? Deluded dubiously funded royalist satellite stations? For me this book is the most insightful revelation of the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of ANY society I have read. It's not the view of one or two political analysts, politicians or academics. It really is a slice through all sections of society in Iran that keep a blog. Which is why, short of finding a 60 million page book with an interview on each page you will not get a better glimpse of Iran from any other source that I have seen. But it is much more than that. It's about people anywhere and how they experience life, but it just happens to be Iran. But because it is written by Iranians they are more revealing, more poetic and more moving than an average emotionally constipated teenager who has grown up in a less challenging environment. I don't think I made it through many chapters with dry eyes. Also I didn't think it had much of an editorial theme, whether that is a good thing or not I don't know. It includes opinions from all sides of the political spectrum, albeit on balance there are more anti establishment views than pro establishment. But I didn't think that was selective editing, more the nature of youth culture in any society. If you took a poll of youth opinion in the US, would the majority be pro Washington? Probably not. So it follows that as the majority of the Iranians in Iran are under 30, the majority will have anti establishment views. But that is not a bad thing, nor a sign of social instability. It has always been the vocation of the young to hold their ancestors to account for the society they are inheriting. It will be interesting to see how that changes if there is