When Magic Failed: A Memoir of a Lebanese Childhood, Caught Between East and West

Fouad Ajamis memoir of growing up in Lebanon in the 50s and 60s is a beautiful and haunting tale of a sensitive young man caught between tradition and modernity. The book explores the transformative forces of the Middle East, such as the Cold War, the Palestinian conflict, religious extremism, and the Gulf's money and oil, that would later erupt into full view.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2022
Publisher: Post Hill Press

From the author of The Arab Predicament and Dream Palace of the Arabs comes a captivating and poignant memoir of growing up in Lebanon in the 50s and 60s—the story of a sensitive young man and budding intellectual caught between tradition and modernity, east and west. As one of the most profound and insightful scholars of the Middle East, Fouad Ajami's sensibility was powerfully shaped by his childhood and youth in Lebanon in the 50s and 60s. The time was a transitional one—not only for the Middle East, but for America and the world. Lebanon in this era was just coming into its own as a cosmopolitan destination of the international jet set as well as earnest American educators seeking to modernize Arab society. The disruptive forces of the Middle East—the Cold War, the Palestinian conflict, religious extremism, the money and oil of the Gulf—were only just beginning to appear. In this haunting and beautifully written memoir of his Lebanese childhood, the late Middle East scholar, Fouad Ajami, casts a discerning light into the corners and alleyways of an Arab reality that would later erupt into full view.

From the author of The Arab Predicament and Dream Palace of the Arabs comes a captivating and poignant memoir of growing up in Lebanon in the 50s and 60s—the story of a sensitive young man and budding intellectual caught between tradition and modernity, east and west. As one of the most profound and insightful scholars of the Middle East, Fouad Ajami's sensibility was powerfully shaped by his childhood and youth in Lebanon in the 50s and 60s. The time was a transitional one—not only for the Middle East, but for America and the world. Lebanon in this era was just coming into its own as a cosmopolitan destination of the international jet set as well as earnest American educators seeking to modernize Arab society. The disruptive forces of the Middle East—the Cold War, the Palestinian conflict, religious extremism, the money and oil of the Gulf—were only just beginning to appear. In this haunting and beautifully written memoir of his Lebanese childhood, the late Middle East scholar, Fouad Ajami, casts a discerning light into the corners and alleyways of an Arab reality that would later erupt into full view.

Weight: 366g
Dimension: 147 x 218 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781637581759