a book
Out of Place
Edward Said · 1999 · 295 pages
Experiencing both British and American imperialism as the old Arab order crumbled in the late forties and early fifties, this memoir of Edward Said's early life reveals the influences that have informed his groundbreaking books, Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism. ..Edward Said was born in Jerusalem, brought up in Cairo, spending every summer for over forty years in the Lebanese mountain village of Dhour el Shweir, until he was 'banished' to America in 1951. Not Quite Right is a powerful act of emotional archaeology and memory, exploring an essentially irrecoverable past. As ill health sets him thinking about endings, Edward Said returns to his beginnings in this intensely personal memoir of his ferociously demanding 'Victorian' father, and his adored, inspiring, yet ambivalent mother. Quotes; '[A] powerful introspective memoir.' Financial Times ..'I know I shall not read a work to match this one this year, or for many years.' Nadine Gordimer ..'A fascinating book written by a gifted, brave man,' Sunday Telegraph ..'Fine and beautifully written.Said is capable of writing like a gifted novelist.' Independent on Sunday
recommended by 1 person
sourced from public statements
Susan Abulhawa
“Edward Said has a very special place in my heart, as he does, I think, in every Palestinian heart. He was a giant of a man and I was gutted when he died. In some ways I thought he was bigger than life – bigger than death. But of course he wasn’t. This is a very intimate book about his young life. His parents were domineering or distant and he talks about always feeling stranded, left behind, out of place. This book resonates with me, not just because I absolutely love the man but because it mirrors a lot of my own feelings about being a diaspora Palestinian – you perpetually feel out of place, you never really have a sense of belonging, just existing in the winds wherever you are.”↗