{"id":1991,"date":"2020-07-06T22:04:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T22:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/?p=1991"},"modified":"2020-07-13T17:24:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T17:24:13","slug":"book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review:  My Shadow is My Skin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">By Ali Sahebalzamani<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1992 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/my-shadow-my-skin-book-281x375.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"281\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/my-shadow-my-skin-book-281x375.jpg 281w, https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/my-shadow-my-skin-book-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/my-shadow-my-skin-book.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 281px) 100vw, 281px\" \/>My Shadow is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora<\/i> is a collection of essays organized and edited by Katherine Whitney and Leila Emery and published by the University of Texas Press. Thirty-two writers, including the editors themselves, contributed to the collection. The writers are all first- or second-generation Iranian immigrants to the United States. This book is not a singular entity; rather it is a patchwork or quilt that, once read from cover to cover, resolves into an image that still, nevertheless, cannot be considered a singular creature. The title of the book is taken from a line in the third essay of the collection, \u201cShadow Nation,\u201d written by Cyrus Copeland, which is arguably one of the best pieces. The central idea of the collection is that identity, especially multi-cultural identity such as the Iranian-American one, can only exist inside the medium of the story; in this case, the story of the diaspora repeated in the lives of the individuals belonging to said diaspora. As one reads further through the collection, glorification of the medium becomes ever more perceptible; storytelling, already beyond mere entertainment, surpasses even its intended role as the vessel for the cultural identity of the Iranian diaspora\u2014it becomes akin to a patron deity, or saint, for these lost, exiled souls set adrift by revolution and war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Many of these essays are in fact, short stories\u2014non-fiction slices from some of the most intimate nooks and crannies of the writer\u2019s own life, rendered in shocking detail and with disarming sincerity. Most of the writers emigrated from Iran some time during the 1980s which, understandably, \u201c\u2026was not the best time to be an Iranian living in America\u2026 .\u201d This phrase, or something similar, is repeated throughout the collection to the point of monotonousness and it does get the intended point across. From the very first piece, written by Jasmin Darznik, the reader is bombarded by tales of hardship, discrimination, struggle, and even violence, punctuated by other, less bitter stories, such as an American mother\u2019s endeavors to ensure her children\u2019s familiarity with their father\u2019s Iranian heritage in \u201cMothering Across the Cultural Divide\u201d by Katherine Whitney. Another piece, \u201cSilkscreen\u201d by Omid Fallahazad, tells the story of an Iranian couple living in America on green cards which, in the America of Donald Trump, must govern their passions very carefully, with the protagonist railing against the activism of his wife in a narrative that seems male chauvinistic to the eyes of their American friend. The dynamic of the husband-wife relationship and how it is affected by the political climate, against the backdrop of trauma sustained in Iran during the eighties, is truly a delight to read. Then there are a few of the pieces, such as \u201cSacrifices\u201d by Iraj Isaac Rahim, where painful and traumatic events are retold through the medium of humor. Another piece that utilizes humor to aid in the digestion of the immigrant experience is \u201cThe Name on My Coffee Cup\u201d by Sa\u00efd Sayrafiezadeh, resulting in a splendidly mischievous tale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The essays are organized into three thematic categories: the first section, \u201cLight\/Shadow,\u201d deals with themes of secrecy and shame as the writers reveal their struggles with traditional-minded parents or an unwelcoming host community that saw Iranians as foe. Within the second section, \u201cCoding\/Decoding,\u201d the so-called <i>hyphenated living<\/i> is discussed as the contributors describe their ordeals in navigating the abyss between the two oft-conflicting cultures. Finally, the third section, \u201cMemory\/Longing,\u201d is dedicated to a sort of reminiscence on Iranian heritage, seeing the old country in the rearview and longing for it, as the writers examine, rather romantically, the Iranian bits they have stuck unto their souls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Some of the essays give in to victim culture rhetoric and even descend into self-pity, yet the whole image remains untarnished as, through the tactful ordering of the pieces by the editors, those few stories, which can be counted on the fingers of one hand, are placed in between the others in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the collection or in any way ruin the reading experience. There are also the ever-present misspelled names\u2014such as that of foods and confectionaries\u2014and the clumsy, ill-executed attempts at writing Persian dialogue in English that certainly could have been avoided. Perhaps the contributors could have done more research before submitting their pieces. How difficult could it be, after all, to ask a Farsi-savvy relative or friend how a particular sentence is actually spoken.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">If someone were to ask me who is the ideal audience for this book, I wouldn\u2019t be able to tell; on the one hand there are more recent generations of immigrants, myself included, who merely got on a plane and came to America where we were greeted by natives who are used to seeing brown people in their midst, whereas the previous generations of immigrants were not so fortunate. The thought of being an Iranian living in America during the hostage crisis sets my teeth on edge. On the other hand, the insight provided by most of these pieces would certainly be eye-opening to non-immigrants. Then, of course, there are those whose own experience might be reflected in these writings which doubtless would find some solace in the knowledge that they did not struggle alone. All in all, through noble endeavors such as the compiling of this collection, one can say it is a good time to be an Iranian in exile.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ali Sahebalzamani My Shadow is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora is a collection of essays organized and edited by Katherine Whitney and Leila Emery and published by the University of Texas Press. Thirty-two writers, including the editors themselves, contributed to the collection. The writers are all first- or second-generation Iranian immigrants to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-book-review"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin - Peyk Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin - Peyk Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ali Sahebalzamani My Shadow is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora is a collection of essays organized and edited by Katherine Whitney and Leila Emery and published by the University of Texas Press. Thirty-two writers, including the editors themselves, contributed to the collection. The writers are all first- or second-generation Iranian immigrants to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peyk Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-06T22:04:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-13T17:24:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b8758493a366338985bb7c506eb1e030\"},\"headline\":\"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-06T22:04:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-13T17:24:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/\"},\"wordCount\":922,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Book Review\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/\",\"name\":\"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin - Peyk Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-06T22:04:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-13T17:24:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b8758493a366338985bb7c506eb1e030\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":140},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Peyk Magazine\",\"description\":\"Persian Cultural Center\u2019s Bilingual Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b8758493a366338985bb7c506eb1e030\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/author\/admin_en\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin - Peyk Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin - Peyk Magazine","og_description":"By Ali Sahebalzamani My Shadow is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora is a collection of essays organized and edited by Katherine Whitney and Leila Emery and published by the University of Texas Press. Thirty-two writers, including the editors themselves, contributed to the collection. The writers are all first- or second-generation Iranian immigrants to","og_url":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/","og_site_name":"Peyk Magazine","article_published_time":"2020-07-06T22:04:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-13T17:24:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":140,"url":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b8758493a366338985bb7c506eb1e030"},"headline":"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin","datePublished":"2020-07-06T22:04:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-13T17:24:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/"},"wordCount":922,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg","articleSection":["Articles","Book Review"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/","url":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/","name":"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin - Peyk Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-06T22:04:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-13T17:24:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b8758493a366338985bb7c506eb1e030"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin-peyk-188.jpg","width":1080,"height":140},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/2020\/07\/06\/book-review-my-shadow-is-my-skin\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Book Review: My Shadow is My Skin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/","name":"Peyk Magazine","description":"Persian Cultural Center\u2019s Bilingual Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/b8758493a366338985bb7c506eb1e030","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/author\/admin_en\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1991"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2030,"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions\/2030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peykmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}