House of Stone: a Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East

Six pages into this book, I said to myself, if Anthony Shadid continues like this, this book will be a classic. And page by page, he did continue, and he wrote a honest-to-God, hands-down, undeniable and instant classic. This is a book about war, and terrible loss, and a troubled region, and his own tattered family history, yes, but it's written with the kind of levity and candor and lyricism we associate with, say, Junot Diaz -- and that makes the book, improbably, both a compulsive read and one you don't want to end. I have no idea how Shadid pulled all this off while talking about the history of modern Lebanon, how he balanced ribald humor and great warmth with the sorrow woven into a story like this, but anyway, we should all be grateful that he did.

-- Dave Eggers, author of Zeitoun and What Is the What Anthony Shadid's beautifully rendered memoir is a rich account of a man's gradual immersion into the world of the Middle East and the culture of the Levant, a kingdom almost unrecognizable today, where the rooms and hallways of his great-grandfather's house tell stories that will linger with every reader for decades. -- Andre Aciman, author of Out of Egypt House of Stone is poignant, aching, and at times laugh-out-loud funny . . . Shadid's writing is so lyrical it's like hearing a song. -- David Finkel, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Good Soldier House of Stone is a haunting, beautifully realized piece of writing. -- Nick Flynn, author of The Ticking Is the Bomb What a beautiful introduction to a world that I knew so little about. House of Stone is engaging, poignant, and funny. -- Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

I was captivated, instantly, by Anthony Shadid's lushly evocative prose. Crumbling Ottoman outposts, doomed pashas, and roving bandits feel immediate, familiar, and relevant. Lose yourself in these pages, where empires linger, grandparents wander, and a battered Lebanon beckons us home. Sav