In this important anthology, editor Charara, the author of two books of poetry (e.g., The Alchemist's Diary), draws a diverse map of Arab American poets. This carnival of voices ranges from expressions of political and social grievance, as in Charara's own "Usage"--"I was born here/ I didn't have to adopt America/ but I adapted to it"--to highly experimental efforts in language and imagery, as in Kazim Ali's "Gallery"--"Music is a scar unraveling itself in strings/ an army of hungry notes shiver down the four strings' furrow." Here we have two views of poetry, the former seeing its language as informational and a means to something outside the poem and the latter seeing it as suggestive and a means to itself. Yet the dilemma of "I" and "the other," "here" and "there" is examined in most of the poems. It is worth noting that all the poems in the collection are written in English, which makes the term Arab American a categorical indicator rather than a literary one. Readers of this collection will experience the joy of discovery and awareness; recommended for all public and academic libraries.--Sadiq Alkoriji, South Regional Lib., Broward Cty., FL Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Make no assumptions. As with all double-named ethnicities, the designation Arab American encompasses people of dramatically diverse backgrounds with stories of family, war, exile, lost languages, cherished traditions, forbidden love, and the art of reinventing home and self. An Arab American is an immigrant or American-born; a Muslim, Christian, or Jew; a human being faced with negative stereotypes, made worse in the wake of 9/11. Poet Charara has gathered 160 clarion poems by 39 Arab American poets (each briskly profiled) to create a potent and synergistic anthology that illuminates the slippery elements of identity. Familiar voices--Naomi Shihab Nye, Jack Marshall, and Lawrence Joseph--combine with poets who though new to most readers will be quickly embraced, so direct, lithesome, and affecting are their poems about the solace of nature and the paradoxes of the human condition. Here are poems of Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Egypt, of New York, Detroit, and South Dakota. Born in a Palestinian refugee camp, Suheir Hammad reaches for the essence: you're either with life, or against it. / affirm life. --Seaman, Donna Copyright 2008 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

This anthology comprises poems written in English by 39 American poets of Arab descent. That each poet has, as Charara writes, a "substantial publication record," is undeniable, but most of them know little Arabic and therefore cannot draw on the rich heritage of classical and modern Arabic poetry. In formal terms, the poetry included here represents mainstream US verse with a sprinkling of prose poems; the poets pay little attention to traditional meters and rhyme schemes, and the poems range in quality from the subtle and introspective to the self-indulgent. The poets' concerns also range widely, but prominent are nostalgia for childhood in a more Arabized environment, anger at Middle Eastern political problems, and their own perceived invisibility in the US. In a lengthy introduction, Charara wrestles with the meaning of "Arab American" identity, whether cultural or national, and finally admits defeat (those looking for a partial answer to the question of identity should seek out Steven Salaita's Arab American Literary Fictions, Cultures, and Politics, CH, Oct'07, 45-0738). This volume complements Dinarzad's Children: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Fiction (CH, Mar'05, 42-3893), edited by Pauline Kaldas and Khaled Mattawa (who contribute poems to the present title). Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. W. L. Hanaway emeritus, University of Pennsylvania From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.