Phyllis CheslerRecensioni

Actually, the second part of Chesler's book, discussing the history of Afghanistan and the treatment of women in right-wing extremist Muslim countries was the better part of the book.

Although her husband tricked her into going to Afghanistan (she had no knowledge that she would be forced to follow the traditional covering and means of travel, or no travel for women, among other things, much like Betty Mahmoody in "Not Without My Daughter"), she still retains a relationship with her Afghani husband years later. He move to America in the early 2000s.

I felt her discussion, her wondering "aloud" about her husband's true understanding about how women were treated in his native country and how he could still continue to believe Afghanistan is good country for men, women and children (then why is he in the U.S.?) was distracting, and almost seemed like a torch-bearing exercise on Chesler's part.

Still, when she gets past those issues, the book provides in-depth information about what is was/is like to live that kind of restricted life, and what people, worldwide are trying to do to make conditions better for women in those countries, as well as countries like India.

For me, I thought it needed to be fleshed out more. I wanted more detail. More history of why things are this way. Where does it stem from? I’m sure that is a longer book though.

She was only there 10 weeks so I don’t feel like that is long enough to warrant an in-depth analysis of life there. That’s not to say that her experience isn’t interesting but I want to know more details. She does stray from her time there and write about a little bit about what has happened since to her since, the ex-husband, etc. So, I guess it tells a little about what life there was like but not a lot because she wasn’t there a long time.

She alludes to the fact that it is different now and I think we know that from the media. They are going backward in time and not progressing. Do they want to progress? Maybe a little bit as a culture they do but they can’t because of current leadership under the Taliban. I just don’t know. It’s a very interesting topic to me that I’ve always been fascinated with. I can’t even sometimes wrap my head around what these men are so afraid of in women that they want them to wear burqas and be uneducated and pregnant.

Another reviewer on Amazon had this to say and I agree:
The second part of the book speaks to more varied topics and discusses Afghan Jews, 9/11, pro-Israeli thought, and discussion of Afghan culture from a feminist perspective. She argues that Afghanistan is a violent, tribal, medieval, Islamist (as distinct from Muslim) society. She believes that it is unacceptable to view Afghanistan through the lens of cultural relativism. Chesler was worked extensively with female victims of attempted honor killings, and she has written a book on the topic. I think that if one wants to read Chesler’s work, that’s probably the book to choose. It seems like many of the ideas she mentions in this book were developed through that work. I would like to read Chesler’s work where she uses a full academic apparatus (situates herself in existing literature and provides full notes), as some of her big, broad claims could really use that standard of context and proof.

I have a hard time with the term Memoir. It is a very brief period in the life of a Jewish woman married to a Muslim man. I do not know if the author is guarded about the details of her emotion or simply does not remember. She uses many literary references and writes often about the theater. Literary references are great when they are in context, but this is more like half her poorly recalled story and half a collection of essays quotes from other authors on the topic of Afghanistan, basically the observations of others over the centuries. These would be great if they were to perhaps explain the perceived views and personality of someone in her story or the culture differences that she encountered and felt were a result of a time in the history of the Afghan people, referenced for such purposes. It is instead relentless name dropping. We get it you have read many books about the experiences of others in Afghanistan, if I wanted to know what they thought, I would have bought their books. There is essentially no description of her own emotions or thought process while going through what are certainly profound experiences. It leaves the reader with no connection to the author because there is no personal emotional attachment in her story. The first time her husband hit her, what is she truly thinking? It is a mystery, I would assume that this is the moment where her one ally is gone and she feels that she is in serious danger. I would assume that the impact of the man she felt she loved deeply and who she though loved her just as much becoming the one to harm her would evoke profound emotion or disbelief. There is not of this. I literally read the line that contains "he hit me" and when back because I though I must have missed some pages. It does not say she was shocked or that she perhaps knew it was coming. She was in Afghanistan for 5 months, this is a short time span for a previously loving husband to become a abusive captor, yet there is no indication of the emotion, pain or disbelief that would impact most women. She actually comments on the stories of others she encountered in her travels, and the emotion that their stories evoked in her, but not in relation to her own experiences. To break it down, the book description quotes "Twenty years old and in love, Phyllis Chesler, a Jewish-American girl from Brooklyn, embarked on an adventure that has lasted for more than a half-century." She was in Afghanistan 5 months, her "adventure that has lasted for more than a half-century" is almost completely her life in New York after her return. She also can't ever clarify if she loved her husband prior to or during her marriage, she repeats that she wondered if she ever really loved him. Next description quote - "She fought against her seclusion and lack of freedom" in reality, she complained to her husband because she could not go and do the things she wanted. I do not mean to imply that being in seclusion is not devastating, but the term "fighting against" usually implies a constant and ongoing struggle for the greater good. She actually expressed that she could not go mountain climbing, sightseeing and shopping without being escorted. The last quote "Chesler nearly died there but she managed to get out" In the book this is the chapter titled "Escape". She got hepatitis and her father in law bought her a plane ticket and her family all went to the airport to see her off. She goes sightseeing on her layovers in Russia and Germany on her way back to America. Not really the picture of someone who just narrowly escaped death.
The best part of this book is getting a small glimpse of the compassion from members of her husbands family. It is rare to read a story of women in Afghanistan that depicts a understanding and recognition for a woman's suffering, and the acts of kindness coming from the men in Muslim men in the story. They are often depicted simply as monsters, certainly some are, but the majority who are good and loving are not usually recognized. It is great to see them acknowledged.

I am a second wave feminist who was politically active at the same time that Dr.Phyllis Chesler writes about. I have met her cast of characters at different political meetings and conferences and oh what a time it was. Dr Chesler writes about these times with wit, pain, honesty with a sharp eye for the contradictions, the drama, the turbulence and plain meanness and sweetness of it all. Like all social movements there are cliques, backstabbing, genuine animosity between members and among different factions of the movement. Yet, my overall feeling of the time was how exhilarating it was like to be in a movement that was making real change for women. I found myself chuckling that Dr Chesler focused on the gossip, the backstabbing and infighting of the time and in her book, was doing the same. A great read, an incisive look at a social justice movement with all of its warts, failures and beauty.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.
Karen

As an eighteen-year-old undergraduate, Jewish-American Phyllis Chesler met fellow student Abdul-Kareem, a handsome and charismatic man from Afghanistan. Their relationship very quickly blossomed as they spent hours together, falling passionately in love whilst sharing their love of literature, music, foreign films and immersing themselves in American culture ... although one thing they didn’t discuss was religion! They married when Phyllis was twenty and she was looking forward to sharing an exciting and exotic lifestyle with him when, following a brief visit to Europe, they moved to Kabul in 1961 to live with her husband’s extended family. However, once there, he is barely recognisable as the Westernised man she married because he quickly slipped back into his misogynistic culture, a world in which women have absolutely no rights, no opportunities for independence, and must obey their husband at all times. Little wonder that modern, independent-minded Phyllis very quickly became deeply unhappy and was desperate to escape. However, as her American passport had been confiscated as soon as she landed in the country, and the American Embassy officials refused to help when she eventually turned to them for help, this was something which proved very hard for her to achieve and only became possible following a serious illness which left her close to death. With the surprising aid of her father-in-law, she was finally granted a six-month visa to return to America to recuperate … she never went back.
Although there were times when I felt the balance of this book was rather skewed, I found it a fascinating and thought-provoking account of the author’s experiences – a combination of memoir and a detailed exploration of the complex history and the numerous religious, political and social influences which have shaped Afghanistan over the centuries. Whilst some of her own experiences were truly horrific and brutal, it became clear that her passionate feminism, and especially her decades-long determination to give silenced Muslim women a voice, were all forged from those experiences, as too was her need to gain insight into what had motivated her to take such risks. Not only is her writing rather surprisingly full of compassion for her ex-husband and his family (she retains contact with them) but it is also scholarly in its examination of the influences which have led to escalating Islamism and the acts of terrorism which are directed not only at the West, but also at more moderate Muslims.
Now that I’ve finished the book I feel I have gained a far greater insight into the reality of the lives of women living in such oppressive circumstances, as well as the fears and physical danger they face on a daily basis. However, I’m left wondering just what can be done to make life better for all of them, not just the relatively few who manage to escape and who are helped to find their own voices. Phyllis Chesler’s voice is strong on their behalf, but a seismic shift in attitude is needed before such oppressed women can be in a position to experience the true freedom of self-determination. However, when any criticism of another country’s cultural mores is all too often deemed racist, people in the West are increasingly reluctant to voice these concerns and to demand change ... but we all need to ask ourselves why where women are born should determine what freedoms they should be entitled to?

This is an odd book. It had real promise in some areas, but that promise was not fulfilled. In the early 1960's Chesler fell in love with an Afghan man. Both were college students in New York. They decided to marry and travel the world, then settle in Afghanistan. The couple marries and has a brief European honeymoon. When they arrive in Kabul, Chesler quickly realizes that reality is far different from her expectations. She is trapped in a society built on strict gender and family hierarchies. She is required to subservient to men and other women in the family. Chesler's husband, a progressive intellectual in New York, or so it seemed, embraces local values and changes in his attitudes and treatment towards his now-wife. Upon arrival Chesler was forced to surrender her passport, and she finds herself with no means of escape.

This tale of Chesler's time in Afghanistan comprises the first part of the book. It is very hard for a 21st century reader to understand how she could move to an entirely foreign country, in a place that does not have a strong history of women's liberation, without, maybe, realizing it. Or, at least, looking into it. This is definitely an example of an impulsive college student mistake, albeit a big one, and there's only so much sympathy one can give to that. The bigger thing to realize, though, is that Chesler was only in Afghanistan for ten weeks. Her impulsiveness did not cost her years of her life. Knowing how short this "captivity" was, it's hard to take it as seriously as presented.

The second part of the book is more varied and more problematic. This section includes discussion of the history of Afghan Jews, 9/11, pro-Israeli polemic, and discussion of Afghan culture from an second wave feminist perspective. Chesler was one of the leaders of the second wave feminist movement, and many of the critiques that have been waged against second wave feminism (that its perspective is generally white, middle/upper class, and intellectual) can certainly be waged against this book. Some of Chesler's conclusions are undeniably controversial. She argues that Afghanistan is a violent, tribal, medieval, Islamist (as distinct from Muslim) society. She believes that it is unacceptable to view Afghanistan through the lens of cultural relativism. While I found some of her ideas interesting, there was so much going on in the second part of the book that nothing feels fully developed. And honestly, the discussion of 9/11 felt entirely out of place. Chesler was worked extensively with female victims of attempted honor killings, and she has written a book on the topic. I think that if one wants to read Chesler's work, that's probably the book to choose. It seems like many of the ideas she mentions in this book were developed through that work. I would like to read Chesler's work where she uses a full academic apparatus (situates herself in existing literature and provides full notes), as some of her big, broad claims could really use that standard of context and proof.

WARNING: Reading Phyllis Chesler's book "Living History: On the Front Lines for Israel and the Jews" may be hazardous to your sense of well-being. It could lead to increased levels of skepticism. This, in turn could lead to a variety of side-effects ... a willingness on your part to question what we are told about the world around us, to make an extra effort to gain more information. You may even find yourself rejecting what 'everybody knows and believes,' in favor of a view that is more complicated, more detailed ... and perhaps more truthful.

These were my thoughts as I came to the conclusion of the book, a compilation of selected articles and essays Chesler composed over a 12-year period as she documented a growing number of incidents that form part of what she describes as a “slow motion Holocaust.” It is a theme that is familiar to those who have read Chesler's works in the past. This was my first introduction to Chesler, and I found myself engrossed, article-by-article, page-by-page. All of it delivered in a style that is clear, concise and compelling.

The incidents she documents have a growing range, occurring in a variety of social, educational and cultural settings around North America and Europe. They also have a growing level of shrillness, as denunciations of 'all things Israel' are encouraged ... and dissenting voices are discouraged.

And it's not just the talk. There is the way 'Middle East issues' are reported in the media. And there are the calls for excluding pro-Israeli attitudes from public fora, from universities, even from churches. Then there is the growing movement to call-out corporations that do business with Israel, and moves to divest investment funds from those corporation who won't go along.

An initial response might be something like, 'come on ... not really.' I was thinking that very thing, at first. But then you find yourself stopping, thinking, then recalling your own first-hand experiences ... as I did when my own Christian denomination began considering divestment from companies that do business with Israel ... JUST as Chesler reported.

There are still among us survivors of those years when the noun 'holocaust' became forever capitalized. Chesler's "Living History" will leave you with the unsettling thought that still another Holocaust may be in the works.

I strongly recommend this book ... with ample time to read it closely, carefully, and to occasionally set the book aside and consider what you've just read.

I wrote a review of this book and published it here: http://wp.me/p382tY-zF
Check it out!

We all have a somewhat vague, unfocused understanding of the threat posed to the Western world by aggressive Islam. Dr. Phyllis Chesler in her book makes frighteningly clear the facts regarding how real the danger truly is. The bias against the West in media, books, movies is detailed daily. The 2016 election is crucial--whether Democrat or Republican, the next american president must be one who will push back forcefully against the increasing pressure from radical Islam. ReadCr. Chesler's book and you'll know why.
Sunie Levin

Phyllis Chesley did a fantastic job summarizing the violence, animosity and racial bias Israel and the Jews have struggled against between 2003 and 2015. It is a compilation of primarily published articles or the authors personal experiences during this time period. The author provides information in a manner that allows each reader to understand the strength of Israel and it's people. So many significant events have occured within this time frame that it had to be challenging to narrow the choices. Dealing with attacks by Islamic fanatics, Palistinians, suicide bombers and the daily violence are events that most Americans do not personally experience. This book left a very vivid image in my mind of how horrible it must be to live in this environment your entire life.

The book is supposed to be a memoir of the author's marriage and her time spent as a wife in Afghanistan. It has a promising beginning and hooked me right away. However, the author seems to mention and quote from every book every written on Afghanistan, especially those related to women's rights. The constant movement back and forth between the history of the country and the author's experiences was a bit disjointed and therefore confusing. I think she only spent a short period of time in Afghanistan and thus the raw material relating to her own personal experiences was not long enough to round out the book as a memoir instead of a history lesson. I did finish the book, so it had enough to keep me interested until the end.

Chesler presents a combination self-history and her analysis of the history of anti-semitism, the latter which is both exhaustive and exhausting. Exhaustive because it recites the history across the ages and exhausting because there seems to be no rational answer to the "Why?" the chronic anti-semitism. As a Christian at first supportive of Jews and Israel because the Lord says we must be, eventually through obedience I have become sincere in my support. What I have seen as "new" about the situation is that the current American president has openly disrespected and contended with Israel and its leadership contrary to the near, if not clear majority of Americans. I believe the Bible - bless Israel and be blessed; curse Israel and be cursed. Yet, like the president, there are are a growing number who are quite hostile in expressing their disdain while supporting the Palestinians. This is prophetic (Psalm 83).
Chesler contends the Jews did not kill Jesus, it was the Romans. According to the Old and New Testaments, the Jews rejected their Messiah but will come to the Truth. Jewish religious leaders conspired with Judas for thirty pieces of silver to turn Yeshua over to the Romans with a demand He be crucified. Yet, the New Testament reminds us that He came first to the Jew and then to the Gentile, and in due time, Israel will be saved.
There is no human or humane reason for one people who desire to live in peace and prosperity to seek to destroy another, unless they follow an evil intent, and where does an evil intent originate? But God is Good, and no plan or purpose can prevail against Him. "Those who pursue lying vanities forsake their own mercies."
I have lived among Muslims in three Arab countries, and found them more hospitable and polite to strangers than most American or Israeli Jews. I worked for years in Jewish law firms in California with attorneys foul-mouthed and brash. Even so, I will take the simple path by trusting in God's Word that He shall redeem His people, the Jews, whence all shall be right with the world at last. Meanwhile, I believe Chesler reports comprehensively what is, what has been but which shall not be forever.

This book is a compilation of the authors interviews and articles, along with choice news articals, compiled together over the first and second Intifida, or the period of uprising in the Gaza and West Bank against Israel against the Israel Government directed at the Israeli Government via innocent Israelis and soldiers, citicenzs and even the Palestinian people.

The book details the failure and bias of the western press to adequately portray the plight and truth of Israel's necessity and right to defend it's citizens under such barbaric attacks by fanatics. It show where the press around the world fails to portray the truth of the violent attacks by the fanatics against its own people and the blockage of food to its own people in many cases.

These uprisings were sparked iniatially by fanatical terrorist groups such Al-aqsa Brigade and later Hamas, which recruited innocent civilians as suicide bombers and and violent human weapons. It continues to do so even now during this time of war. Many are unable to truly understand that Israel has been intentionally backed into a corner by these fanatical groups for the purposes of garnering positive media attention and coverage for there own twisted coverage for the annhilation of Israael.

These fanatical terrorists do want a two-state solution what-so-ever. They want the complete demise of Israel. This is not to say that all Palestinians feel this way. There is a two-state solution. I do not agree with the author that all "Islamists" are for our demise. It is the fanatics, full of hate with twisted, greedy and bloody agendas which work towards this end. I am even more appalled that these fanatical groups will use their children in this war to corrupt their innocent minds and bread them into violence. The next generation must be brought into peace without fanaticism.

Both sides must eliminate all elements of fanticism, even within their patterns of thinking. Until then, however, the media and the world must understand that Israel must defend it's very existence. It is a sad statement to have to say.

I did not see a place for her feminism in this book. I thought it was rather off-subject.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars. Partly because, yes, I think some of this was poorly edited, and partly because I don't feel right giving a full four stars to any book that needs a warning label. Like the one I'm giving it right now: Do NOT read this if you're already bummed out. It was stupid of me to pick this up right now. But it's an important book, so I'm glad I read it. And, yes, I'm glad I'm done.

If you're already familiar with Phyllis Chesler -- author of vitally important books such as Women and Madness, Mothers On Trial, and Women, Money, and Power -- you may be as startled as I was to learn that when she was still a teenager, she married a man from Afghanistan. On his insistence, she went with him to his native country to live with his family. She almost died there before managing to escape.

The man she fell in love with in America became her captor and abuser in Afghanistan. And yet she now considers him a friend, dotes on his children from his second marriage, and mourns the death of his second wife, whom she considers a sister.

An American Bride in Kabul is the story of how this can all be true. Probably the most compelling aspect of it is that Chesler doesn't try to rationalize how one of the founding feminists of American second-wave feminism can feel genuine fondness for a man she acknowledges is "a misogynist, a charming misogynist, an educated and seemingly assimilated misogynist, but awful where wives and feminism are concerned." Emotions are irrational, or this world wouldn't be such a mess.

This book is at its strongest -- is spellbinding, in fact -- when Chesler focuses on her own story. She quotes from a diary she kept while still a prisoner. She explains to her Western readers what a harem truly is (it's not about sex and it's definitely not sexy). She compares her own experiences to those of other Western women who have ventured into similar marriages (she did a lot of research before writing this book). And she is ferociously commanding when she addresses Western feminists and their failings when it comes to sexism in the Middle East.

I think the tenth and eleventh chapters needed some editing. It's startling that anyone writing about 9/11 could be less than compelling, but Chesler's chapter on that very topic felt like something from a different book than the one she'd started. And, yes, all right, I'm shallow; but it was hard for me to switch gears and go from a gripping personal story to a twenty-page chapter about the history of Jews in Afghanistan. Chesler manages to weave this history into her own story with a surprising twist, but before she got there, I felt myself drifting.

Nevertheless, this book ought to be required reading if only for the parts where Chesler addresses the Western tendency toward moral relativism and our fear of looking racist if we tackle Middle-Eastern sexism.

Read this early in the morning on a summer's day so you'll have a long afternoon of sunshine in which to recover.

We all have a somewhat vague, unfocused understanding of the threat posed to the Western world by aggressive Islam. Dr.Chesler in her book of essays makes frighteningly clear the facts regarding how very real and very imminent the danger truly is. The specifics of what is happening, today are almost beyond belief.

The bias against the West, and most specifically, Israel, in media, books and news reports is starkly presented with highly detailed, documented clarity. The picture is scary. In particular, universities are complicit in promoting distorted views of Israel while attempts at countering the pro-Islamic propaganda are savagely repressed, making a mockery of free interchange of ideas which is suppose to be the very bedrock of academic credo. The heavy-handedness of this anti-Western campaign on campuses is frightening.

The UN has become a forum for Israel-bashing, knuckling to the pressure from Arab oil money. Israel is blamed for crimes committed by Arabs and Palestinians against their own people,

Just as in the 1930's, when Hitler rose to power, the West cringes before the bullying aggression of Islam. The 2016 election is crucial--whether Democrat or Republican, the next American president must be one who will push back forcefully against the increasing pressure from radical Islam. Read Dr. Cresler's book and you'll know why.

Being Jewish (and proud of it) and having spent a lot of time in Israel and others part of the Middle East, I was thrilled to receive an advance galley from the publisher through LibraryThing to review. But I was sorely disappointed.

I am turned off by works of nonfiction in which the author is so emotionally angry and biased. I too am often angered by how Israel and the Jews are treated. However, I remain calm and approach it with what I assume is a level-head. This book lashed out in all directions with little organization to it.

Some points the author made were valid but it gets lost in the venom. She is accurate in her accounts of Israelis living in danger day after day. But these facts again get lost in her emotional ranting. She is also quite repetitious. There is a claim that “North American streets are mainly safe but …not during Muslim prayer services which are sometimes conducted in the streets and which block pedestrians and traffic.” Where are the facts to back up that just because the mosques may be too small (which sometimes they are) it endangers the rest of us when the worshippers spill out onto the street. She also says “To be a Jew is to live dangerously…). I totally disagree as I openly live as a Jew.

I see nothing “new” about the anti-Semitism we are experiencing today. Yes, it exists and, yes, it is on the upswing. But it is the same anti-Semitism we have encountered through history. She claims that the “new” anti-Semitism is perpetrated in the name of anti-racism and anti-colonialism. Again, this view on anti-Semitism is really not different from the “old” anti-Semitism. It still comes down to Jews being the scapegoat.

Sorry, but I see this as the work of an angry, scared person lashing out. I do not consider it a valid analysis of the true situation.

On the one hand, Ms. Chesler presents a view of an important issue: is antisemitism reviving in western civilization? Against the backdrop of the Middle East, one has to recognize that there is tremendous pressure against many nations to take some position on an issue that many people would like to let go of.

On the other hand, so much of Ms. Chesler's argument is really (a) a matter of histrionic over-exaggeration, and (b) simply false. I must admit that I feel awkward even being critical here, because - by Chesler's standards - it probably makes me antisemitic, while, if anything, I am totally sympathetic to the Jewish culture, and largely in agreement with many principles of Jewish faith.

It is by and large too easy to be anti-anything, now-a-days. People seek to focus their anxieties on something readily available, and Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Evangelicals, Satanists, and the French, are easy targets. One can hate them because by their nature they are fairly easy to identify and find something to dislike about them.

Are people more antisemitic now than in the recent past? Probably. And they're probably more anti-Muslim, anti-French, too. Global economies have been hit hard, people lose their jobs, their houses, find themselves trapped by debt, afraid of violence - so many things drive us to be afraid, so we find something to fight back against, or at the very least to blame for our troubles. That's humanity for you.

Ms. Chesler would do well to refocus her dyspepsia towards the real issues confronting all people, and spend less time railing about how her group is being hated by others.

This volume is a collection of breaking news reports from the front lines of the propaganda war against Israel, the Jews, and the infidel West. Dr. Chesler tracks the “slow motion Holocaust” that began in Israel in 2000, a holocaust that remained invisible to most of the world, and that foreshadowed the global expansion of Islamic Jihad. Dr. Chesler documents how educated Westerners and the mainstream media distort the war against the Jews by presenting Jewish self-defense as criminal aggression and by burying or misnaming the facts. This book is a must-read addition to your library in these most frightening and challenging of times.

Ms. Chesler in her powerful and wonderfully written book talks of the not new or ever to go away concept that a new form of anti-Semitism has evolved and further developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, coming from at the same times from the political far-left, radical Islam, and the far-right, and rooted to the goal and messaging itself as opposition to Zionism and the State of Israel. The ideas put forth that much of what seems to be just criticism of just Israel by individuals and world bodies, is, actually a total and all-inclusive worldwide series of attacks on Jews and symbols. There’s an increased acceptance of anti-Semitic beliefs in any kind of public discussions.
In Ms. Chesler’s book The New Anti Semitism the concept of being or talking of anti-Zionism, anti-American or the total and all inclusive vilifying of Israel may and is linked to worldwide anti-Semitism, or as these groups try to disguise their anti-Semitism. Debate on this from the worldwide media is centered against anything Jewish or Israeli and from college campuses to cities around the globe Ms. Chesler brilliantly shows us the facts that too many of the world still chooses to ignore. The fight against Anti-Semitism is as old as the world and will never go away and must be confronted loudly and with firm resolve. To have anti Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist elements talk up the Palestinian cause but refuse to allow and discussion of a Jewish and or Israeli point is anti-Semitic no matter what you color it as. Please read Dr. Chesler’s book and keep talking of it to all even if the world puts its collective fingers in their ears.

I received an advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I found this book to be at times hard to follow as it seems to be somewhat disorganized. It was chock full of thought-provoking information about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism and how prejudice and discrimination against the Jews and Israel has evolved into the present-day electronic world. Why spend time demonizing Israel and the Jews when there are so many other problems in the world that should be dealt with. I wish everyone could live in peace and harmony. In reality I don’t think this will ever happen, as many members of society seem to have a need to discriminate against anyone that’s different from them and in the minority. It seems to be about power and control. The author seems to feel that there is a trend to hold the Jews to a different standard than everyone else. I feel that this is an important book that should be read by everyone in order to gain a better understanding of the Israeli and Palestinian dynamics and prejudice and terrorism throughout the world.

The author explores perception of women and gender roles, making a case that "madness" can be a normal response to intolerable pressures and exploitations experienced by women. Issues in the myth of Demeter and Persephone are explored. As an introduction to the topic, Chesler cites writings of and by four women who were institutionalized as psychiatric patients: Sylvia Plath, Zelda Fitzgerald, Ellen West and Elizabeth Ware Packard.
I was particularly interested in the perspectives on E.W. Packard, since she was one of my great-great-great grandmothers. in the 1860's, Packard was committed on the say-so of her minister husband, purely because of her progressive views on religion. She spent three agonizing years in the Illinois state mental hospital, and subsequently wrote about her experiences. She later became an activist, urging state and federal legislators to change laws that permitted men to commit their wives to institutions virtually at will. She argued persuasively for basic rights for mental patients. Her story is compared with those of Plath, Fitzgerald, and West in the first chapter.
Chesler goes on to look at attitudes of therapists of both sexes toward women. She discussed the nature of asylums, and the therapeutic relationship between clinician and patient.
Chesler conducted 60 interviews with women who had been in treatment for mental illness. She categorized the interviewees as women who had been sexually involved with their therapists, those who had spent time in psychiatric hospitals, those who identified themselves as lesbians, those who thought of themselves as feminists, and "third world women" who came from a background of poverty. Some women were listed in more than one category. The experiences of the women are compared and analyzed.
Women and Madness was a little hard to get through, but ultimately worth reading. The author thinks of herself as more of an artist than a scientist, and tends to rant and ramble around her topic. She is passionate about pointing out the injustices endured by women in modern society, and gender inequities in psychiatric care.½

As a whole this book was decent enough and while the descriptions of her time being, in her words, a captive in a foreign country by her husband’s Islamic family and forced to adjust to a world that just seemed like she had no chance of belonging in were a good read? There were moments when she went quite a bit off track and had some long sections where she talked almost endlessly about other people and their experiences in Afghanistan. And while mentioning other people writing about their experiences is a good way to encourage further reading? There is a point where it becomes awkward when mixed in with her personal experiences. And what I could never wrap my head around was how she would eventually become close friends with the man who helped keep her hostage, committed what amounted to spousal rape and then refused to let her have a divorce even after she had fled back to her home country. That in and of itself seemed ridiculous and what was most apparent was that when she got married and moved to Afghanistan she knew little to nothing about the culture she was about to be thrust into. And in the end that did little more than put her in a position to be miserable. And while much of what she went though is most definitely terrible and not something that she deserved? She seemed to be a thoughtless, immature girl who married without considering what that meant and got in way over her head. And rather than reflecting on that for more than a brief moment? She seemed to want to blame everyone else for how miserable she had become.½

I am not Jewish - but nevertheless was quite interested in this book. I found it difficult to read, simply because the disease it describes is so rampant. It is an updated a re-issue of a book first published in 2003, and it is very timely. One wonders how the victims of hatred and violence can so easily be turned into the guilty party, with no openness at all to the facts. I too have had frustrating conversations with people on this subject, and it is almost like talking to a brick wall. The resistance to truth is indicative of underlying causes for hatred that are almost too frightening to contemplate but too dangerous not to. But then, I have the same trouble talking to feminists, Marxists and Global Warming people too. But perhaps it takes a strident voice to reach strident people. Still, it does not surprise me that feminists have criticized the author and the book - both feminism and the new Anti-Semitism depend on the same twisted interpretation of history, the same gross generalizations and the same self-righteous, condemning judgmentalism, as is all too obvious when the focus shifts in the book from Anti-Semitism to feminism, which it does all too often, or in its evaluation of Christianity. Though I disagree with the author's politics and understanding of history, which are too much a part of this book, I do agree with her understanding of the danger of modern Anti-Semitism. If this Anti-Semitism is not effectively countered, we are headed for not only Israel's destruction but civilization-in-general's suicide. Along with examples of "the new Anti-Semitism", and a history of Anti-Semitism through the centuries, the author provides strategies for combating it. Good luck, for it's a battle for truth that must be won, for the survival of us all.½

Like some other reviewers, I am somewhat conflicted about An American Bride in Kabul: A Memoir. From the title and blurb I was expecting a memoir about a young woman trapped in Afghanistan due to her own naivete and perhaps some lessons learned. I have read some Phyllis Chesler and have enjoyed her other works, so my expectations may have been too high. Instead there are a few rambling chapters about a ten week stay in Kabul, some ruminations about Islam, terrorism, feminism, the burqa, honor killings, and the dangers of cultural relativism. It was not only unexpected, but rather disappointing and jumbled. I felt very uncomfortable with the many twists and turns Chesler took in this "memoir," even though parts of it were fascinating. I did enjoy her historiography of narratives written by Western women about their own experiences marrying into or traveling in the Middle East. I did feel very uncomfortable when she began pitting Judaism and Islam against one another-she seemed to make a lot of blanket statements, which are hard to make convincingly.

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this book, but it was a fairly quick read and certainly directs you to further reading.½

The description of this book would lead you to believe (or at least I believed) that it is a chronicle of the unexpected and torturous life of an unprepared American female in a foreign Islamic country after being married to someone she thought she knew. In reality, it was a 10-week ordeal that is being reiterated from bits of a diary that was kept during that time. However, one wonders of the diaries credibility, as the author admits to not even remembering some of the events that happened (like being beaten). She continues to have a loving and respectful relationship with her ex-husband and his current family. While the unpleasantness of purdah is not to be argued, Chesler may have been made more unhappy by the lack of luxury, food and constant companionship of her husband, which she was accustomed.

The second half of the book is a mere reiteration of the books that came before and after this one detailing the subordination of females in this culture and how those cultural norms are immigrating with the people to new countries.½