Introduction

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Foreword ix
4. Introduction xiii
5. Light/Shadow
6. The Summer I Disappeared 3
7. Sacrifices 11
8. Shadow Nation 25
9. Two Minutes to Midnight 28
10. When We Were Lions 41
11. Fortune-Tellers 52
12. Silkscreen 57
13. Hookah, Once upon a Time 74
14. Think of the Trees 78
15. Pushing the Boundaries 82
16. Uninvited Guest 91
17. Coding/Decoding
18. The Name on My Coffee Cup 97
19. Negotiating Memories 102
20. In Praise of Big Noses 112
21. Transmutations of/by Language 120
22. Gilad, My Enemy 132
23. Two Countries, One Divided Self 138
24. Mothering across the Cultural Divide 147
25. My Mom Killed Michael Jackson 163
26. Am I an Immigrant? 174
27. 1,916 Days 177
28. Culture beyond Language 182
29. Memory/Longing
30. Forget Me Not 187
31. Errand 191
32. The Color of the Bricks 202
33. Renounce and Abjure All Allegiance 207
34. Learning Farsi 217
35. Delam Tang Shodeh 227
36. Walking with Zahra 245
37. Halva 257
38. Her Orange-Blossom Tea 262
39. The Iranians of Mercer Island 264
40. Acknowledgments 269
41. Contributors 271