READING LOLITA--DELUXE ED

EveryThursdaymorningfortwoyearsintheIslamicRepublicofIran,AzarNafisi,aboldandinspiredteacher,secretlygatheredsevenofhermostcommittedfemalestudentstoreadforbiddenWesternclassics.Somecamefromconservativeandreligiousfamilies,otherswereprogressiveandsecular;somehadspenttimeinjail.Theywereshyanduncomfortableatfirst,unaccustomedtobeingaskedtospeaktheirminds,butsoontheyremovedtheirveilsandbegantospeakmorefreely–theirstoriesintertwiningwiththenovelstheywerereadingbyJaneAusten,F.ScottFitzgerald,HenryJames,andVladimirNabokov.AsIslamicmoralitysquadsstagedarbitraryraidsinTehran,asfundamentalistsseizedholdoftheuniversitiesandablindcensorstifledartisticexpression,thewomeninNafisi’slivingroomspokenotonlyofthebookstheywerereadingbutalsoaboutthemselves,theirdreamsanddisappointments.AzarNafisi’sluminousmasterworkgivesusarareglimpse,fromtheinside,ofwomen’slivesinrevolutionaryIran.ReadingLolitainTehranisaworkofgreatpassionandpoeticbeauty,aremarkableexplorationofresilienceinthefaceoftyranny,andacelebrationoftheliberatingpowerofliterature.