by AnnSheybani | Aug 31, 2010 | Alcoholism, Faith
Like a junkie with a 14-gauge needle, my mother used books to blot out reality. Curled up in her chair, immersed in a novel, she ceased to be aware of anyone or anything around her. When she put her book down, exposed herself to the rage and tension that contaminated... by AnnSheybani | Aug 8, 2010 | Bigotry, Chiang Kai Shek, Codependency, Cultural Issues, Gloria Steinim, Hostage crisis, Iran, Rescue, Suzy Wong
I’m disappearing to a writer’s conference for ten days. So here, because time is not my friend, is a segment from my book The Lost Girls of Shiraz. A draft, but a taste nonetheless. He’s so sure of himself, this man beside me. So comfortable in his own... by AnnSheybani | Jul 14, 2010 | Confidence, Uncategorized
I just got back from climbing Mt. McKinley (Denali) in Alaska. Twenty days hauling an 80-lbs pack up steep traverses interspersed with hours on end languishing in a tent. Hard work mixed with sheer laziness. It’s been a long time since I’ve slept for fourteen hours... by AnnSheybani | May 31, 2010 | cancer, Cultural Issues, death, dying, Faith, fatalism, Final Gifts, hospice nurse, Kubler-Ross
So much time has passed, but the two and a half years of illness are still fresh in my mind. I can still hear his voice calling me from the hospital after exploratory surgery. From the tone, I know something is terribly wrong even before he tells me. He’s supposed... by AnnSheybani | Apr 27, 2010 | Cultural Issues, developing world, girls' education, Half the Sky, Hymen, imperialism, Iran, mass rape, maternal mortality, microfinance, mysogany, Nicholas Kristof, prostitution, sex trafficking, Sheryl WuDunn, slavery, virginity, wedding night
I’m back at the small confectionary shop in Iran where Hannah, my husband’s niece, and I order frozen noodles. “One of the girls in my study group had a really hard time breaking her hymen on her wedding night, ” Hannah says, staring out the picture window at women...
