About the Book
Beautifully written, and composed with a novelist's eye for detail, this book tells the story of an exceptional man and the culture from which he emerged. Taha Muhammad Ali was born in 1931 in the Galilee village of Saffuriyya and was forced to flee during the war in 1948. He traveled on foot to Lebanon and returned a year later to find his village destroyed. An autodidact, he has since run a souvenir shop in Nazareth, at the same time evolving into what one leading American critic has dubbed 'perhaps the most accessible and delightful poet alive today'.As it places Muhammad Ali's life in the context of the lives of his predecessors and peers, "My Happiness" offers a sweeping depiction of a charged and fateful epoch. It is a work that Arabic scholar Michael Sells describes as 'among the five 'must read' books on the Israel-Palestine tragedy'. In an era when talk of the 'Clash of Civilizations' dominates, this biography offers something else entirely: a view of the people and culture of the Middle East that is rich, nuanced, and above all else, deeply human.
About the Author :
Adina Hoffman is the author of House of Windows: Portraits from a Jerusalem Neighborhood. Her essays and criticism have appeared in the Nation, the Washington Post, the Times Literary Supplement, and on the BBC. One of the founders and editors of Ibis Editions, she lives in Jerusalem.
Review :
"Beautifully written. . . . In tracing [Muhammad Ali's] life . . . Hoffman manages to illuminate the experience of an entire people. She is scrupulously even-handed. . . . [This] is not only the biography of a remarkable man; it is an act of reclamation against the erosions of memory." Eric Ormsby, "Times Literary Supplement"--Times Literary Supplement"
"Informative, captivating and fast-moving, this first biography of the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali (1933- ) is a true delight to read." Greta Aart, "Cerise Press"--Greta Aart "Cerise Press ""
Winner of the 2013 Windham Campbell Prizes administered by the Beinecke Rare Book &Manuscript Library at Yale University.--Windham Campbell Prizes"Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library" (03/15/2013)"
Winner, Certificate of Merit in the 2012 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Sound Research in Classical Music.--Certificate of Merit"Association for Recorced Sound Collections" (05/24/2013)
"Adina Hoffmans writing is historical magic. She relates world-scale political history on a human scale, so that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rendered, with clarity and fairness, the story of one family, one village, one exodus, one return. At the end of the day, the meaning of this history is explored and contemplated in the ways a great novel achieves that kind of contemplation. A series of brilliantly told and searing stories, this is at once a page-turner and a book to be savored."Mara Rosa Menocal, author of The Ornament of the World -- Maria Rosa Menocal
?Adina Hoffman has given us a superbly composed meditation upon memory, truth, and conflict in the Middle East. The texture of her prose, the improbable transformations of key characters, and above all their human depth and complexity, contribute to a luminous portrait of the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali and of his world. I would place My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness among the five ''must read'' books on the Israel-Palestine tragedy. Michael Sells, John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature in the Divinity School, The University of Chicago -- Michael Sells
?Adina Hoffman's portrait of Taha Muhammad Ali brings to life character after character, each one viewed with the author''s singular humanity. The poet himself is a figure of great originality and integrity, and his life becomes a mirror of a world which we have glimpsed, until now, largely in broken fragments. I hope this landmark book will be widely, and carefully, read. W.S. Merwin -- W.S. Merwin
"Adina Hoffman has given us a superbly composed meditation upon memory, truth, and conflict in the Middle East. The texture of her prose, the improbable transformations of key characters, and above all their human depth and complexity, contribute to a luminous portrait of the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali and of his world. I would place "My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness" among the five 'must read' books on the Israel-Palestine tragedy." Michael Sells, John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature in the Divinity School, The University of Chicago
--Michael Sells"
"Adina Hoffman s writing is historical magic. She relates world-scale political history on a human scale, so that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rendered, with clarity and fairness, the story of one family, one village, one exodus, one return. At the end of the day, the meaning of this history is explored and contemplated in the ways a great novel achieves that kind of contemplation. A series of brilliantly told and searing stories, this is at once a page-turner and a book to be savored." Maria Rosa Menocal, author of "The Ornament of the World"
--Maria Rosa Menocal"
"Adina Hoffman's portrait of Taha Muhammad Ali brings to life character after character, each one viewed with the author's singular humanity. The poet himself is a figure of great originality and integrity, and his life becomes a mirror of a world which we have glimpsed, until now, largely in broken fragments. I hope this landmark book will be widely, and carefully, read." W.S. Merwin
--W.S. Merwin"
"From Adina Hoffman's extraordinary book, I have not only learned about the life of that wise, sweet, cunning, superbly gifted and totally original Palestinian poet, Taha Muhammad Ali, but I have learned more than ever before about Jewish and Arab history in Palestine.The book is heartbreaking, riveting, and beautifully written.Moreover it's one of a kind, courageous, and deeply honest." Gerald Stern, National Book Award winner for "This Time: New and Selected Poems"
--Gerald Stern"
"Reading Adina Hoffman's remarkable book we are consoled that, in the face of terrible brutalities and sufferings, the enduring power of poetry might restore in words and celebrate a measure of what has been lost in reality." Azar Nafisi, author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran"
--Azar Nafisi"
"There is never a bad time for compassion. But could there possibly be a better time than now? Adina Hoffman's incredibly well-researched, thoughtful, wise biography of the fascinating Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali might be the kind of project that serves as model for all that might save a region. Someone paying deep and loving attention to someone else someone listening, not only to his words, but to the details and context of his whole life and the experience of his people. This book is a profoundly humane and tender experience, and should not be missed by anyone who cares about a better future and respect for the past." Naomi Shihab Nye, author of "You and Yours"
--Naomi Shihab Nye"
"Adina Hoffman''s portrait of Taha Muhammad Ali brings to life character after character, each one viewed with the author''s singular humanity. The poet himself is a figure of great originality and integrity, and his life becomes a mirror of a world which we have glimpsed, until now, largely in broken fragments. I hope this landmark book will be widely, and carefully, read."--W.S. Merwin
--W.S. Merwin
"Adina Hoffman's writing is historical magic. She relates world-scale political history on a human scale, so that the 'Israeli-Palestinian' conflict is rendered, with clarity and fairness, the story of one family, one village, one exodus, one return. At the end of the day, the meaning of this history is explored and contemplated in the ways a great novel achieves that kind of contemplation. A series of brilliantly told and searing stories, this is at once a page-turner and a book to be savored."--Maria Rosa Menocal, author of "The Ornament of the World"
--Maria Rosa Menocal
"From Adina Hoffman''s extraordinary book, I have not only learned about the life of that wise, sweet, cunning, superbly gifted and totally original Palestinian poet, Taha Muhammad Ali, but I have learned--more than ever before--about Jewish and Arab history in Palestine. The book is heartbreaking, riveting, and beautifully written. Moreover it''s one of a kind, courageous, and deeply honest."--Gerald Stern, National Book Award-winner for "This Time: New and Selected Poems"
--Gerald Stern
"Reading Adina Hoffman''s remarkable book we are consoled that, in the face of terrible brutalities and sufferings, the enduring power of poetry might restore in words--and celebrate--a measure of what has been lost in reality."--Azar Nafisi, author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran"
--Azar Nafisi
