The Ministry Of Guidance Invites You To Not Stay: An American Family In Iran (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
I’m always interested in learning more about Iran because I have an uncle who is from there, in fact he came to the US in the late ’70′s for college and ended up staying here, building a career, becoming a citizen, marrying my aunt, etc. However, if I’m being honest, books that are solidly in the history section of nonfiction are sometimes intimidating and oftentimes can bore me. So a book like this, a memoir of a family’s time spent in Iran, with snippets of history peppered throughout, is a perfect balance for me. I learned a LOT about Iranian history, politics, and society in general while also getting to know this courageous and interesting family.What I most loved about this book is that while Majd was open with the reader and explained much of what was scary and nonsensical about Iranian society and the political structure, much more of his narrative was focused on what he loves about his country of origin. There is so much to love about the Iranians we meet in this book, so much positivity and light and love and it made me so happy to see Majd choose to spend more time on those things than on the negatives. His portrayal of life there and observations of how the country really operates was such a balanced, honest picture of things that it made me immediately close the book and do more research on Iran and the country’s history. I enjoy nonfiction books the most when I learn something while being entertained, and The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay was the perfect mix of both. I'll admit it, I chose to read this book after seeing Hooman Majd's promotion of it on The Daily Show. I found the book to be enthralling, a picture into a world that most Americans will never have the privilege of visiting. Expats and people who have traveled abroad will relate to many of the author's struggles related to settling in to a new country as home, yet for only a time. I'm glad Majd has given us all a picture into Iran as both a national and an expat. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is curious about Iran and Iranian culture.
What do You think about The Ministry Of Guidance Invites You To Not Stay: An American Family In Iran (2013)?
The best part of the book was the description of life in IRan. The rest of it was kind of boring
—cmunoz
I really wanted to like this book, but it was just surface-level commentary for the most part.
—Taylorrenee
