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Excellent Daughters
- The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World
- Narrated by: Katherine Zoepf
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
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Publisher's summary
For more than a decade, Katherine Zoepf has lived in or traveled throughout the Arab world, reporting on the lives of women, whose role in the region has never been more in flux. Only a generation ago, female adolescence as we know it in the West did not exist in the Middle East. There were only children and married women. Today, young Arab women outnumber men in universities, and a few are beginning to face down religious and social tradition in order to live independently, to delay marriage, and to pursue professional goals. Hundreds of thousands of devout girls and women are attending Qur'anic schools - and using the training to argue for greater rights and freedoms from an Islamic perspective. And, in 2011, young women helped to lead antigovernment protests in the Arab Spring. But their voices have not been heard. Their stories have not been told.
In Syria, before its civil war, she documents a complex society in the midst of soul searching about its place in the world and about the role of women. In Lebanon, she documents a country that on the surface is freer than other Arab nations but whose women must balance extreme standards of self-presentation with Islamic codes of virtue. In Abu Dhabi, Zoepf reports on a generation of Arab women who've found freedom in work outside the home. In Saudi Arabia she chronicles driving protests and women entering the retail industry for the first time. In the aftermath of Tahrir Square, she examines the crucial role of women in Egypt's popular uprising. Deeply informed, heartfelt, and urgent, Excellent Daughters brings us a new understanding of the changing Arab societies - from 9/11 to Tahrir Square to the rise of ISIS - and gives voice to the remarkable women at the forefront of this change.
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Zainab Salbi was 11-years-old when her father was chosen to serve as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, her family often forced to spend weekends with Saddam where he watched their every move. As a palace insider, Zainab offers a singular glimpse of what it is like to come of age under a dictator and provides an intimate portrait of the man she was taught to call "uncle". She watched as Saddam pitted friends, spouses, and even children against each other to compete for his approval.
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An excellent history lesson
- By Ella on 12-01-09
By: Zainab Salbi, and others
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The Invitation-Only Zone
- The True Story of North Korea's Abduction Project
- By: Robert S. Boynton
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout the late 1970s and early '80s, dozens of Japanese citizens were abducted from coastal Japanese towns by North Korean commandos. In what proved to be part of a global project, North Korea attempted to reeducate the abductees and train them to spy on the state's behalf. When the project faltered, the abductees were hidden in a series of guarded communities known as "Invitation-Only Zones" - the fiction being that these were exclusive enclaves, not prisons.
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Over enthusiastic reader!
- By AJW on 02-14-16
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Without You, There Is No Us
- My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite
- By: Suki Kim
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il and North Korea: Without you, there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us. It is a chilling scene, but gradually Suki Kim, too, learns the tune and, without noticing, begins to hum it. It is 2011, and all universities in North Korea have been shut down for an entire year, the students sent to construction fields - except for the 270 students at the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST).
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The King and I meets Mary Poppins
- By Michael on 02-22-15
By: Suki Kim
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Arab and Jew
- Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
- By: David K. Shipler
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 27 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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David Shipler delves into the origins of the prejudices of Jews and Arabs that have been intensified by war, terrorism, and nationalism. Focusing on the diverse cultures that exist side by side in Israel and Israeli-controlled territories, Shipler examines the process of indoctrination that begins in schools; he discusses the far ranging effects of socioeconomic differences, historical conflicts between Islam and Judaism, attitudes about the Holocaust, and much more.
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'Arab and Jew' Needs a Good Editor
- By Robert W. Gillespie on 10-23-03
By: David K. Shipler
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The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
- The Paradox of Modern Iran
- By: Hooman Majd
- Narrated by: Hooman Majd
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, journalist Hooman Majd is uniquely qualified to explain contemporary Iran's complex and misunderstood culture to Western listeners. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ provides an intimate look at a paradoxical country that is both deeply religious and highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet informed by a history of democratic and reformist traditions.
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Good book that dodges some tougher questions
- By Walter on 08-30-09
By: Hooman Majd
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Just Like Us
- The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America
- By: Helen Thorpe
- Narrated by: Paula Christensen
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Just Like Us tells the story of four high school students whose parents entered this country illegally from Mexico. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States, and all four want to live the American dream, but only two have documents. As the girls attempt to make it into college, they discover that only the legal pair see a clear path forward. A coming-of-age story about girlhood and friendship, as well as the resilience required to transcend poverty, Just Like Us is also a book about identity.
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I wanted to listen but...
- By PurpleSage on 03-22-14
By: Helen Thorpe
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Under Red Skies
- Three Generations of Life, Loss, and Hope in China
- By: Karoline Kan
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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A deeply personal and shocking look at how China is coming to terms with its conflicted past as it emerges into a modern, cutting-edge superpower.
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An intimate view of real life in China
- By Lonnie G. Hardy, Jr. on 08-15-19
By: Karoline Kan
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Committed
- A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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At the end of her best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met. Resettling in America, the couple swore eternal fidelity to each other, but also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get legally married. But providence intervened one day in the form of the United States government....
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Perfect timing
- By Nancy on 01-15-10
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No Escape
- The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs
- By: Nury Turkel
- Narrated by: Stewart Lang
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A powerful memoir by Nury Turkel lays bare China’s repression of the Uyghur people. Turkel is cofounder and board chair of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and a commissioner for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
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Powerfully Provocative
- By Amazon Customer on 06-01-22
By: Nury Turkel
What listeners say about Excellent Daughters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Nathan Wilkinson
- 07-28-16
A unique and enlightening perspective
Would you consider the audio edition of Excellent Daughters to be better than the print version?
This book was very interesting and enlightening. Most of what we see about the Arab world in the US is filtered through governments and news networks. It was so refreshing to see how these diverse Arab women are changing their societies, without leaving out the myriad of problems still faced by women in the Middle East.
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2 people found this helpful
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- LW
- 03-23-18
Compelling story ruined by insipid narrator
Where does Excellent Daughters rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
One of the most interesting and impressive stories I have heard; well written and well researched, but I had to stop listening to because of the narrator's performance. I finished the book in print.
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The excellent research, balanced view and insight of the author.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Katherine Zoepf?
My next door neighbor's toddler. The kid at the Starbuck's drive through. Anybody else. Although her Arab pronunciation sounded very convincing, her high-pitched, simpering, vacuous delivery is reminiscent of a teenage Valley Girl in love with how much she can extend her vowels. She does a disservice to the book and its subject matter. And if she is truly the author, too, then shame on the editor for not telling her that she's killing her own book.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
"The modern lives of young women in the Arab world." Sadly - not a lot of transformation going on - just suffering.
Any additional comments?
Read the book - don't listen to it.
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- Zuzana B
- 07-02-17
Best book on Middle East written this decade
If you could sum up Excellent Daughters in three words, what would they be?
Accurate portrayal of Arab culture - finally
What other book might you compare Excellent Daughters to and why?
Not sure
Have you listened to any of Katherine Zoepf’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This is the first
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
The notion and importance of honor in the society
Any additional comments?
No
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2 people found this helpful
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- ARTEP
- 11-13-17
Please get a professional reader/performer
The subject is compelling, albeit at this point dated. I wish it had some updates on the most currents situation in SA...after all of the arrests and anti-corruption crackdowns, which incidentally I find ironic.
The reading however is most atrocious, the author indeed comes across as the “journalist Barbie” (a term she brings up in the book). Her voice and delivery are most annoying, I really struggled to listen past the voice and focus on the story. Please, please, there are so many wonderful readers/performers out there, hire one.
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- Joy
- 06-21-17
Wonderful insight.
I enjoyed the focus and stories Katherine shares. I couldn't stop listening.
The only thing I did like was the voice. I appreciated the author voicing her own book, but I found her voice pitchy for the tone of the material covered.
Overall, a great book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ebaa
- 08-26-16
I could not stop listening
I am a Saudi professional who is US trained/educated and I have to give Katherine a huge round of applause for her reporting style that seemed like a balance mix of hopeful optimis did not neglect the heterogeneity of the Arab world and each individual community even within the same country. It is a must read / listen to anyone who is interested in the social changes taking place in the Arab world. I
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- Dr. Courtney Benjamin
- 07-24-24
Very Fair Reporting
As an American woman married to an Iraqi, I am familiar with Middle Eastern culture; this is one of the fairest and best balanced reporting I've seen of women's issues in the Middle East.
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