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Sign up todayHouse of Stone
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Learn moreWhen Anthony Shadid—one of four New York Times reporters captured in Libya as the region erupted—was freed, he went home, not to Boston, Beirut, or Oklahoma, where he was raised by his Lebanese American family, but to an ancient estate built by his great-grandfather, a place filled with memories of a lost era when the Middle East was a world of grace, grandeur, and unexpected departures. For two years previous, Shadid had worked to reconstruct the house and restore his spirit after both had weathered war. Now the author of the award-winning Night Draws Near tells the story of the house’s re-creation, revealing its mysteries and recovering the lives that have passed through it. Shadid juxtaposes past and present as he traces the house’s renewal along with his family’s flight from Lebanon and resettlement in America. House of Stone is an unforgettable memoir of the world’s most volatile landscape and the universal yearning for home.
Anthony Shadid (1968–2012), an unparalleled chronicler of the human stories behind the news, gained attention and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, for his front-page reports in the Washington Post from Iraq. He was the only American reporter there who spoke Arabic. As the senior Middle East correspondent for the New York Times, he earned his second Pulitzer.
Neil Shah is an Audie Award-nominated narrator and AudioFile Earphones Award winner who has recorded over one hundred audiobooks. A classically trained actor with an MFA from the Old Globe/University of San Diego program, Neil has appeared off-Broadway and on regional stages, as well as in film and television.
Reviews
“Shadid’s beautifully rendered memoir is a rich account of a man’s gradual immersion into the world of [the] Middle East where the rooms and hallways of his great-grandfather’s house tell stories that will linger with every reader for decades.”
“To some reporters, the Middle East is a ‘story.’ To Anthony Shadid, one of the best journalists working today, it is life itself. His love of the place and its people resonates in every word of this lovely book.”
“Anthony Shadid has written a beautiful and timeless book about a broken place and a breaking man. House of Stone is poignant, aching, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. It is a story of history and healing, and Shadid’s writing is so lyrical it’s like hearing a song.”
“Anthony Shadid’s House of Stone is a haunting, beautifully realized piece of writing. With the poignancy of an exile and the eye of a reporter, Shadid juxtaposes past and present not only to tell the story of his family’s house and what happened there, but also to take us back to a Middle East we had forgotten, a place of grace, dignity, and diversity. He illuminates what has been and what is in the Middle East.”
“The main narrative of House of Stone concerns the rebuilding of the house. Interwoven with this is Shadid’s account of his ancestors and their world…A powerful reminder of the impact that never-ending insecurity has on people long after the violence that ruined their lives has been forgotten by the rest of the world.”
“An 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…Both a compulsive read and one you don’t want to end.”
“A riveting, soulful, and candid journey.”
“A profound meditation on history, friendship, politics, and the indelible music that guides us home.”
“A nostalgic, bittersweet journey back to the Lebanese homestead…A gentle unfolding of observation and insight, as the author reacquaints himself with the Arabic rhythms, ‘absorbing beauties, and documenting what was no more.’ A complicated, elegiac, beautiful attempt to reconcile the physical bayt (home) and the spiritual.”
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