Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but.....
Review: The book offers a very interesting perspective. There are marits to many of the writer's points and arguments. It really helped me to come in touch with the history of Iran over the past 25 years. However, she represents most of the so called "reformers" as the victims of the system. She does not nearly enough emphasize that the same people were among the "creators" of the madhouse named Iran today. For example, the fact that many, if not most of the so called reformers were among the people who stomred the US embassey and triggered the ensuing hostage taking incident is either absent from the book, or is just very briefly mentioned. I also object to the notion that there has never been as much press freedom in Iran as there is today! Anyone with any sence of history knows that the few years following the Mossadegh's fall were much more impressive in terms of press freedom than anything that an Islamic theocracy can ever possibly offer. Overall, good book, but obvioulsy written by someone whose knowledge of the culture and history of Iran before the revolution is rather limited.
Rating:
Summary: Good read, but.....
Review: The book offers a very interesting perspective. There are marits to many of the writer's points and arguments. It really helped me to come in touch with the history of Iran over the past 25 years. However, she represents most of the so called "reformers" as the victims of the system. She does not nearly enough emphasize that the same people were among the "creators" of the madhouse named Iran today. For example, the fact that many, if not most of the so called reformers were among the people who stomred the US embassey and triggered the ensuing hostage taking incident is either absent from the book, or is just very briefly mentioned. I also object to the notion that there has never been as much press freedom in Iran as there is today! Anyone with any sence of history knows that the few years following the Mossadegh's fall were much more impressive in terms of press freedom than anything that an Islamic theocracy can ever possibly offer. Overall, good book, but obvioulsy written by someone whose knowledge of the culture and history of Iran before the revolution is rather limited.
Rating: 
Summary: Must Read
Review: The GoodThe failure of books written by majority of foreigners on the revolution and post Iranian life is that they are usually based upon a very cursory and brief ( and I underline brief) experience of the writer about Iranian and Iranian life. This is definitely not the case here. The author has a very good grasp of Iranians, their political aspirations, and post revolutionary iranian politics. This is expertly portrayed in the book. I also believe that Ms. Sciolino does not portray any political biases one way or other regarding her writings which is also refreshing. However, I would have liked her to expand the writings to cover the Shah's reign post 1963. This would have shed better light on the events that followed, but since she was not there it would have been second hand recollection, and I believe Ms. Sciolino wanted to limit the book to her own experiences. The Bad This point was also mentioned by another reviewer. One of the earlier chapters in the book is devoted to lives of women in Iran, however ALL women interviewed by the author are connected to the establishment... Their views are ridiculously one sided and pro-government and unfortunately false and inaccurate. I wish the author had interviewed the massess of Iranian women who have turned to prostitution to support their families. Because of this part I have given the book four instead of five stars. Overall recommended
Rating: 
Summary: understanding the nuance beneath the chador
Review: The reviewer who thought this was too critical of Iran missed the nuance. This is a book that explains this complex country in an authoritative and extremely accessible way, written by an American journalist who has traveled there repeatedly for the last 20 years. Her empathy, perceptiveness and even affection are on vivid display. An NPR interviewer in Seattle called it a "page-turner." And so timely! It captures the intense drama that is playing out today in Iran--a battle between Islam and democracy--at a time when we still don't know the ending. But the best stuff is about women in Iran--the hair salons, aerobics studios, fashion design houses, kitchens, swimming pools. Written with great voice, and charm.
Rating:
Summary: A good intro to the true face of Iran
Review: This book brings to light the warmth and openness of the Iranian people despite the restrictive governmental rule they live under. You really feel for them, and the book makes you wish Iran would open up to the western world and share their culture, emotion, and diverse opinions with the rest of us. I hope someday a change occurs. I would love to visit and experience the culture. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the cultural aspect of the Middle East and Iran in particular. A great book with a true portrait of a new generation of Iranians, and of the older generations who are learning to listen to their hearts and not to political/religious rhetoric and propaganda.
Rating:
Summary: right on target
Review: This is the most accurate reflection of the typical Iranian personality. I am a full-blooded Iranian but have lived abroad all my life, except for summers in Tehran, until the revolution. Then, for the past 5 yrs, I've resumed spending time there, along with my sister, on an annual basis. As much as I love many things about it, things such as baldfaced lying -- to a pathological level -- are exactly as Sciolino describes it, and it was a real reality check for me to read her take on it. Whether a relative, a government official or a merchant, they almost all do it. At a certain point, it becomes quite humorous. But despite these blemishes, I felt more nationalistic towards Iran after reading that book, than ever before. There are many things to be proud of from being an Iranian, and there is no such thing as a perfect nationality.
Rating:
Summary: Why don't the state department pundits write/think as well?
Review: Very well versed book by a non-Iranian who comes very close to being an Iranian. I appreciate all the hard work that Ms. Sciolino has put into creating this great work. I wished that the state department pundits use this book along with two other very well written books recently published about Iran- Abbas Milani's book about Hoveyda and Robin Wright's book- before saying anything about Iran. As a professional, I am amazed how little these people actually know about Iran and how little they even try to understand that culture. If they had done so, maybe Iran-US relations was in a better shape than it is right now. Ms. Sciolino has done a maginificant job understanding many positives and some negatives in Iranian's culture. My many thanks to her and I look forward to many more of her writings about Iran in NYT and elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A book sympathetic to the rulling clergy in Iran
Review: What the writer wanted us to understand was that women can still have a life under oppression so they should just live this life.I felt that the writer was sympathetic to the Mullahs and their families. Most of the women she had interviewed were from the rulling class. And I was astund when she called Azam Taleghani a defender of women's rights. Azam Taleghani in an interview with Marie Claire magazine in Spring of 1997 in an article by Jan Goodwin stated that "if my own daughter commits adultry I ask for her death with stoning, the law is the law." The book is not real.
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