Searching for Hassan : an American family's journey home to Iran / Terence Ward.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ward, Terence.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ward, Terence--Travel--Iran.

Ward, Terence.

Travel.

Iran.

Iran--Social life and customs.

Manners and customs.

Physical Description:

322 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, 1 map ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2002.

Summary:

In 1998 Terence Ward and his family set out on a long-awaited pilgrimage back home -- to the Islamic Republic of Iran, where they lived in the 1960s. Since the fall of the Shah, the country and their past had been effectively sealed off behind a veil of secrecy, and contact with one dear friend in particular, Hassan, had ceased. But memories of life in this enigmatic land -- of cherry orchards and Zoroastrian fire festivals, of the snow-capped Elburz Mountains and Hassan's magical fables -- inspired the Wards to return.

Searching for Hassan is the wondrous and touching story of the Wards' quixotic journey, ultimately rewarded by an emotional reunion with their lost friend. They travel into an unimaginably rich Persian past, to the very origins of civilization, and across the landscape of contemporary Iran, a surreal kaleidoscope of ancient traditions and Western pop culture. Ward creates a vivid portrait of Islam's unique imprint and explores the deep conflicts between Iran and its Arab neighbors, anticipating the new "Great Game" now being played out in central Asia.

Ward's keen knowledge of Iranian culture and history, infused with the urgency of his personal journey, reveals a country that is both wildly alien and inextricably linked to the American imagination.

Contents:

Prologue: Blood from Pomegranates 1

1. Fellow Travelers 12

2. A Second Coming 30

3. The Past Is a Foreign Country 44

4. Pasargadae's Stones, Zoroaster's Flame 64

5. Lords and Ladies of Persepolis 85

6. Nightingale Gardens, Sufi Poets and a Tavern 105

7. Every Place Is Kerbela 135

8. Towers of Silence, Temples of Fire 166

9. Appointment in Tudeshk 193

10. Isfahan Feasts, Bicycle Girlfriend 209

11. On the Banks of the Zayandeh River 229

12. Video Nights in Imam Khomeini's Tomb 252

13. Valleys of the Assassins, Black Five Millionaires 274

14. The Color of God 291.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [319]-322).

ISBN:

0618048448

OCLC:

47665431