he popular image of Iran in the West is not pretty — fatwas, hostages and, more recently, a bombastic, Holocaust-denying leader. But to see this as the essence of this politically-crucial state is to fall into the “axis of evil” mindset.
Madj is an Iranian-American journalist, who takes the reader along on his travels through his country of birth. We meet a hijab-wearing cab driver, an opium-addicted mullah, and leaders remarkably attuned to public opinion. Madj chooses to leave close examination of human rights abuses to others. His engrossing narrative provides much-needed challenges to orthodox thinking about Iran. A timely and illuminating read.
