Rating: 
Summary: Heart Wrenching but TRUE
Review: I have family members that live in Saudi Arabia and this book clearly matches what my Aunts and Uncles have told me. If you are in search of the truth about what happens to many Islamic women(I said many, not all), then this book is what you need to read.
Rating:
Summary: I highly recommend this book (April 23,2003)
Review: I loved this book, despite the fact that some sections are extremely sad. It's a powerful, riveting read, and extremely well researched. The author engages the reader in way you feel as if you are right there yourself talking to these women. It was obvious that Goodwin was able to develop a great deal of trust and rapport with the women she interviewed. I was also impressed at the variety of people she spoke with in countries that frequently have strict censorship. The book includes interviews with educated elite women to the impoverished illiterate, from conservative to liberal Muslims, and the author didn't just confine herself to the Arab Muslim world, but included non Arab-Muslim countries. Having read the original version of the book, I still found it extremely helpful to go back and read the updated version, which has just come out, especially in light of 9/11, and the recent U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Price of Honor raised my awareness and understanding significantly of a part of the world we in the U.S. tend not to know a great deal about. Equally important is the fact that the author is very respectful of Islam. I now understand why their faith is so important to Muslims, and just how integrated it is in their every day life and politics. The book is an astounding tour of a large swathe of the Muslim world; the comparison within and between and among the different countries was fascinating. I highly recommend Price of Honor. I am not sure, however, why Amazon continues to promote the older version of the book, while making potential customers search for the recently updated version.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-opening look at life in various Middle Eastern countries
Review: I read this book quite a few years ago but it is still topical today. I was stunned by the stories of abuse of women in the Middle East. I like that the book is laid out by country, so you get a glimpse of life in each Middle Eastern country, personal stories of women there, and also info about the political regime in that country and whether the author feels that the country's leaders are truly religious or just using Muslim extremists to keep their citizens at bay. Very eye-opening.
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent book, well-written and researched.
Review: I too, enjoyed reading this book, however, as an american muslim woman, I feel that the author did not say often enough or make it clear enough that the atrocities happening to these women have no basis in Islam. These are purely man made laws and restrictions, and I would have liked to see her balance her truth-telling with quotes from the Quran and the words of Prophet Muhammed to show how Islam really says to treat women as a counter balance to how they are being treated. I also would like for the author to acknowledge that this is not just an islamic "thing" but something that is happening the world over. We as a world society are leading our women into one kind of oppression or another, here it just happens that they are inherently sexual slaves, whose image of being slim,sexy and beautiful lead our young girls into lives of anorexia and bulemia, and eventually suicide. I think this book should be a wake up call to how women are treated in all societies the world over.
Rating:
Summary: erudite and very thorough
Review: I was consistently impressed with how much information Goodwin managed to cram into each chapter. She is meticulous in documenting each topic she pursues and it is obvious that she has great interest in what she writes about. Though it would have been nice to read about a more representative sample of subjects, Goodwin has done very well with the resources given her. Anyone interested in women in the Middle East would gain a great deal from this book because of its deep yet broad scope.
Rating:
Summary: Happy to be an American
Review: I was required to read this book for a geography class. At first I found it difficult to read. But as time went by, it began to be more interesting. I do not judge people based on religion because I come from a mixed religious household. It was difficult for me to understand what the difference is between a Muslim and Islam. Are they one and the same? Just as christianity has different degrees of severity, so does Islam. However, when one reads this book, they must understand that not everyone was interviewd. It would be impossible to do. It does discuss the higher class women and the torture they have gone through; the country's economic status- which does lead to education and/or health care quality; but also discusses the lower class as well- those in poverty or homeless. It does give a very good picture of what goes on over there and makes me feel better that I am here. However, if a person is raised in that society and is unaware of other options, how are they to know anything different. I understand that this is not how the Muslim religion really is, just as I understand that not every Arab is evil. Enjoy the book- but remember the difference.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, Shocking
Review: In an age when no one can be critical of anything regarding religion, this book is a refreshing eyeopener. The books I have read in support of Islam have consistently ignored or explained away the horrendous human rights abuses in the Islamic world. If American Society treated women or any ethnic group the way women are treated in the Islamic World, we would be crucified for our abuses of human rights. However, whenever anyone points out the treatment of women in Islamic Society, the critic is accused of ignorance or bias. The abuse of women is so deep and opressive that many, if not most women in these countries buy into their own subjugation. It is clear that the fundamental flaw in Islam is the reliance on what Islam allows women. As Islam was created of, for and by men, the implication here is that women are only allowed in Islamic Society those rights some men somewhere allow them. Until humanity, and especially women understand that no one has the power to grant equality and human rights to women, but can only take away their rights, as women are entitled to all the freedoms that men now have, and men do not have any right to limit these human rights.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is NOT about Islam.
Review: This book IS about the plight of women in the male-dominated, oppressive societies of the Middle East and Central Asia (and to some extent North Africa as well). To confuse this theme with an indictment of Islam is both ignorant and misleading. This book examines the cultures that foster oppression of their female population, and how those cultures have radically developed in the past few decades. Religion is NOT culture, but religion is part of culture. Since Islam is the predominant religion of the regions she studied, Goodwin does discuss its relation to the theme of her book. Most importantly, Goodwin addresses how the Koran and Islam can be viewed as a feminist in the sense that they actually set up rights of women, equality of the sexes and implores men and women to treat each other well. Goodwin does juxtapose the Koran's views of women with how the radical-political culture of certain areas in the Middle East and Central Asia to show that some religious-extremists are using the banner of Islam to enforce their views which are not necessarily true to the religion. Moreover, Goodwin examines how the oppression of women in these regions relates to their politics, and how the oppression of women is often a calculated political move (i.e. for the Taliban) to keep control of the society. Also, she examines how the status of women is often an indicator of a nation's stability. Very interesting. If you really want to know what some women face in this world, you should read this book among others. Granted, she does not examine the lives of muslimahs in comfortable conditions: remember, this book is not about the lives of muslimahs around the world; it is about the lives of women in very specific oppressive societies! 1 Complaint: This book is hard to read for a sensitive person. In describing the accounts of women who've suffered at the hands of oppressive and violent regimes, Goodwin does not hold back. She gives every horrifying, nauseating detail of rapes, murders, beatings, threating situations etc. These details seem to be over the top at times (though I don't doubt their veracity), and they can detract from her message about oppression by simply overwhelming the reader's emotions.
Rating:
Summary: Men -- Please read this book
Review: This book is not just for and about women.
I feel that often we only get a male perspective of Middle Eastern issues, and because of that have only half the true picture. Ms. Goodwin gives snapshots of common male mindsets in this part of the world and how they impact lives. The diversity in the places and topics covered in this book are vast. I am sending a copy of this book to all the significant males in my life.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: Very good book, paints a true picture of the sometimes depressing realities women face in the Middle East.
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