Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Pamela Olson, a small town girl from eastern Oklahoma, had what she
always wanted: a physics degree from Stanford University. But instead of
feeling excited for what came next, she felt consumed by dread and
confusion. This irresistible memoir chronicles her journey from aimless
ex-bartender to Ramallah-based journalist and foreign press coordinator
for a Palestinian presidential candidate.
With dizzying speed she finds herself attending Yasser Arafat's funeral, sharing a holiday dinner with a suicide bomber's family, tour-guiding Israeli friends around the West Bank, dating a Palestinian from a conservative Muslim village, being held at gunpoint and injured by a stun grenade, and witnessing the 2005 Disengagement from inside the Gaza Strip.
The gripping narrative focuses not only on violence, terror, and social and political upheavals but also on the daily rounds of house parties, concerts, barbecues, weddings, jokes, harvests, and romantic drama that happen in between. From idyllic olive groves to Palestinian beer gardens, from Passover in Tel Aviv to Ramadan in a Hamas village, from rooftop parties in Ramallah to militant rallies in Nablus, the book is packed with suspense, humor, and unforgettable characters. Its seamless blend of travelogue, memoir, and narrative journalism ramps the average American up to a sophisticated, multi-faceted understanding of the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Funny, gorgeous, shocking, and galvanizing, Fast Times in Palestine challenges the way we think not only about the Middle East but albout human nature and our place in the world.
REVIEWS
“A moving, inspiring account of life in Palestine that’s enormously informative yet reads like a novel.”
-- REBECCA VILKOMERSON, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace
“It’s love in the time of occupation as Pamela Olson... takes us on the emotional roller-coaster of her very personal experience of life in Ramallah -- and in doing so lays bare the human drama of a people... determined to live free.”
-- TONY KARON, Senior Editor, TIME Magazine
“Part adventure story, part searing reportage, part love story, and wholly absorbing.”
-- DR. KENNETH RING, co-author, Letters from Palestine
For more information, visit pamolson.org
With dizzying speed she finds herself attending Yasser Arafat's funeral, sharing a holiday dinner with a suicide bomber's family, tour-guiding Israeli friends around the West Bank, dating a Palestinian from a conservative Muslim village, being held at gunpoint and injured by a stun grenade, and witnessing the 2005 Disengagement from inside the Gaza Strip.
The gripping narrative focuses not only on violence, terror, and social and political upheavals but also on the daily rounds of house parties, concerts, barbecues, weddings, jokes, harvests, and romantic drama that happen in between. From idyllic olive groves to Palestinian beer gardens, from Passover in Tel Aviv to Ramadan in a Hamas village, from rooftop parties in Ramallah to militant rallies in Nablus, the book is packed with suspense, humor, and unforgettable characters. Its seamless blend of travelogue, memoir, and narrative journalism ramps the average American up to a sophisticated, multi-faceted understanding of the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Funny, gorgeous, shocking, and galvanizing, Fast Times in Palestine challenges the way we think not only about the Middle East but albout human nature and our place in the world.
REVIEWS
“A moving, inspiring account of life in Palestine that’s enormously informative yet reads like a novel.”
-- REBECCA VILKOMERSON, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace
“It’s love in the time of occupation as Pamela Olson... takes us on the emotional roller-coaster of her very personal experience of life in Ramallah -- and in doing so lays bare the human drama of a people... determined to live free.”
-- TONY KARON, Senior Editor, TIME Magazine
“Part adventure story, part searing reportage, part love story, and wholly absorbing.”
-- DR. KENNETH RING, co-author, Letters from Palestine
For more information, visit pamolson.org
About the Author
Pamela Olson grew up in small-town Oklahoma and studied physics and political science at Stanford University. She lived in Ramallah, Palestine for two years, during which she served as head writer and editor for the Palestine Monitor and foreign press coordinator for Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi’s 2005 presidential campaign. Her writing has appeared in the International Herald Tribune, CounterPunch, Israel’s Occupation Magazine, Mondoweiss, and The Stanford Magazine among other publications. Fast Times in Palestine is her first book.
"A moving,
inspiring account of life in Palestine that's enormously informative yet
reads like a novel."
"Pamela Olson leads the reader on an exciting, funny, at times heart-wrenching journey, carefully deciphering complex political and historical issues. Olson is a talented writer, intelligent and exceptional in her ability to convey both tragedy and hope, remaining morally grounded and refreshingly honest."
"As an Israeli whose life was shaped by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I found Fast Times in Palestine moving and refreshing. Pamela Olson comes to the Middle East with a blank slate and is therefore able to hold up an undistorted mirror to the reality she encounters."
"Pamela Olson operates in a great tradition of American explorers, from Martha Gellhorn to Susan Meiselas to Rachel Corrie — open-minded women who have thrown off a lot of tired received wisdom about a fearful part of the world in order to see it for themselves, then brought that understanding back to their own culture. This book is a triumph of sympathy and observation."
"Fast Times in Palestine will open your eyes to the human story inside the political drama. Mixing humor, memoir, political intrigue, romance, and sociological commentary, Olson’s heartfelt work will change how you understand the Middle East."
|
"It's love in the time of
occupation as Pamela Olson... takes us on the
emotional roller-coaster of her very personal experience of life in
Ramallah — and in doing so lays bare the human drama of a people...
determined to live free."
"In a field overcrowded with arcane academic texts and strident polemics, Pamela Olson has broken through with a refreshing read that packs gritty journalism into a fast-paced, intimate personal narrative."
"Part adventure story, part searing reportage, part love story, and wholly absorbing... written with infectious humor, dazzling verve, keen insight, and deep passion. If you want to know what everyday life is like for the Palestinian people, go to Palestine; if you can’t, read this book." |
No comments:
Post a Comment