A mosaic of lyrical vignettes, at once deeply personal and political,
set against the turbulent backdrop of Arab/Western relations. Adnan
writes, "Contrary to what is usually believed, it is not general ideas
and grandiose unfolding of great events that impress the mind during
times of heightened historic upheavals, but rather the uninterrupted
flow of little experiences, observations, disturbances, small ecstasies,
or barely perceptible discouragements that make up day-to-day living."
"As the new world order continues to produce and rewrite our history,
mainstream literary culture invades our consciousness to finally sever
us from reality. Steadfast in her adherence to the world, Etel Adnan's
work is a mix of prose, poetry, political insight, philosophic
speculation and historical remembrance honed here to mineral perfection.
Working close to the very heart of American poetic power but from the
centers of official recognition, Adnan has been delivering the news for
decades, her eyes always focused on 'the narrow and long road which
leads to the slaughter-house.'"--Ammiel Alcalay
"For years, Etal Adnan has been writing a quiet lyric prose that is also
insistently political. In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country
returns to the explorations of the history of war and the female body
that made Sitt Marie Rose--her novel of the Lebanese civil war--a
classic. Here she uses short vignettes to examine the world wide
resonances of yet another war in the Middle East, to speak poignantly of
how its terrors mix with mundane moments of beauty. This is a moving and
complicated work."--Juliana Spahr, author of This Connection of
Everyone with Lungs
