Unveiled: Love and Death Among the Ayatollahs

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Summary: Dont waste your time with this so called book.
Review: I will be very brief.This book is outdated,exaggerated,and most of it is nonsense.The writer although might have written some of this book truthfuly,has put in the book many half truths and it really turned me off.I would recommend to the writer that she should not pursue writing as an avenue to make a living.

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Summary: Please write
Review: I would love to hear from anyone who has read the book and would like to talk further about any of the issues.

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Summary: Irresponsible book that only increases cultural stereotypes
Review: I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book, and am finding it to be the tale of a confused, bicultural woman returning to an even more confused, multi-cultural country. It's a rather trashy and not partiularly well-written account of her experiences. While probably all true, it makes me sad to think that this, and its companion book with the theme of "horrible time in Iran," Not Without My Daughter, may be one of the few views into Iranian culture for Western readers. I'm not sure what the author's motivation was (revenge? to raise funds?), but I'm finding it to be an irresponsible book that only increases cultural stereotypes. Imagine not knowing a thing about America's South other than its racism.

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Summary: It's amazing what these poor women put up with!
Review: Mosteshar touched me with her book and opened a new door showing me the life of Iranian women.

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Summary: Great book for book club discussion, not great literature.
Review: Our women's book club overall found the book to be too "chatty" and very difficult to follow, especially when discussing her myriad family and friends. What was interesting, however, is that this book engendered a very lively discussion on Iran, the role of women, and Western bias in understanding different cultures. Daughter of Persia was mentioned as a better book to read. In all, we felt this was not a great book, but was a good discussion book for a book club.

Rating:
Summary: Tedious & awful
Review: Somehow I did make it through this book, but it was only out of sheer force of will. It was poorly written and dull. I thoroughly enjoy books on Iran in particular and the Middle East in general, but this book was more of an exhausting sob story than it was an interesting autobiographical journey. There's only so many pages that a person can endure a laundry list of complaints. If you're looking for a journey into today's Iran, read "Searching for Hassan" or "Honeymoon in Purdah."

Rating:
Summary: Needs to be edited more!
Review: The bad points: This book was very convoluted and I had trouble keeping up with who was who in the author's family. It was somewhat "talky", I agree with the above review, a good last edit and some more clarification would have been helpful. The good points: I respect that this author obviously put her heart and soul into writing this, by sharing with the reader very intimate details of her life. I could truly understand why she married her good-for-nothing-husband based on my own experience living in a closed society to women. I am glad the author no longer lives in Iran, under those conditions. Her text on how it is difficult to straddle the bridges between two cultures is very poignant. While I admire her dedication to reveal the "true Iran" where not every person who walks the street carries a bomb, I wonder if this is possible, seeing the current state of relations between the West and Iran. It would be interesting if the book contained an addendum about the current President, Mohammed Katami. I also liked her sense of humor, and the cultural tidbits that were past along.

Rating:
Summary: Needs to be edited more!
Review: The bad points: This book was very convoluted and I had trouble keeping up with who was who in the author's family. It was somewhat "talky", I agree with the above review, a good last edit and some more clarification would have been helpful. The good points: I respect that this author obviously put her heart and soul into writing this, by sharing with the reader very intimate details of her life. I could truly understand why she married her good-for-nothing-husband based on my own experience living in a closed society to women. I am glad the author no longer lives in Iran, under those conditions. Her text on how it is difficult to straddle the bridges between two cultures is very poignant. While I admire her dedication to reveal the "true Iran" where not every person who walks the street carries a bomb, I wonder if this is possible, seeing the current state of relations between the West and Iran. It would be interesting if the book contained an addendum about the current President, Mohammed Katami. I also liked her sense of humor, and the cultural tidbits that were past along.

Rating:
Summary: Don't sound like no nightmare for at least half the book
Review: The beginning of the book is boring. Too much tedious narrative about her big rich family and her love of designer clothes. It doesn't sound like she's living some "nightmare" in Iran in the least. She's a second-rate writer too, using hack-y terms like "poetic soul." Uggh! It starts to sound like a nightmare and get interesting when she grows scared of getting old and marries that jerk

Rating:
Summary: Unveiled
Review: The first half of this book is totally frustrating. There are too many characters and the family tree is virtually useless. The second half is exasperating. Here is a woman of so called nobility and educated who, in rebellion against her upbringing, marries an inferior, rude, sexist, demanding, and controlling gigolo. The reader can only tire of her rationalizing a destructive marriage, conceived and executed with her consent. The only kind thing I can say for Cherry is that perhaps her rebellion against her parents, who ruled and dominated her early dating life, responded in the only way she knew how. Choose someone totally and completely the opposite of anyone they would have chosen for her. Well done....but why punish yourself?