Infidel (book)

infobox Book |
name = Infidel
orig title = Mijn Vrijheid
translator =


author = Ayaan Hirsi Ali
cover_artist =
country = The Netherlands
language = English
series =
classification = fiction
genre = Autobiography
publisher = Free Press
release_date = February 1, 2007cite web|last=|first=|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Infidel-Story-My-Enlightenment/dp/074329503X|title="Infidel: My Life: The Story of My Enlightenment"|publisher=Amazon.co.uk|date= ]
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 368 p.
isbn = ISBN 0-7432-9503-X
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Infidel" is an autobiographical book and "New York Times" bestseller by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, published in 2007. It is a translation of the Dutch book "Mijn Vrijheid" ("My Freedom"), which was released on September 29, 2006. [nl icon cite web|last=|first=|url=http://www.ad.nl/binnenland/article671196.ece|title="Schaterlachen om vrijheid van Ayaan"|publisher=Algemeen Dagblad|date=September 30 2006 ] It was released in English on February 1, 2007. For security reasons, a female ghostwriter of this book remains anonymous.nl icon cite web|last=van Zijl|first=Frank|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article353972.ece/De_zware_beproevingen_van_een_moslimmeisje|title="De zware beproevingen van een moslimmeisje"|publisher=de Volkskrant|date=September 30 2006 ]

ynopsis

Hirsi Ali writes about her youth in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, about her flight to the Netherlands where she applied for political asylum, her university experience in Leiden, her work for the Labour Party, her transfer to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, her election to Parliament, and the murder of Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the film "Submission". The book ends with the controversy regarding her citizenship, which helped bring down the Dutch government.

Reception

The launch of the book in the Netherlands was a great success, with the initial print run selling out in two days. nl icon cite web|last=van Zanten|first=Claudia|url=http://www.elsevier.nl/nieuws/laatste_24_uur/nieuwsbericht/asp/artnr/118347/|title="Boek Hirsi Ali in twee dagen uitverkocht"|publisher=Elsevier|date=October 3 2006 ] A review in de Volkskrant concluded that "anyone who discovers Hirsi Ali's tumultuous history can only sympathise with her". The German edition of the book, "Mein Leben, meine Freiheit", debuted in the top 20 of the bestseller list of Der Spiegel. [de icon cite web|last= Broder|first= Henryk|url=http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,440351,00.html|title="Mohammed wird Liebe bedeuten"|publisher=Der Spiegel|date=October 2 2006 ]

The book was also well received upon the release of the English edition in 2007. Reviewing the book for The Sunday Times, Christopher Hitchens called it a "remarkable book." [cite web|author=Christopher Hitchens|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/biography/article1314105.ece|title=A voice that will not be silenced|publisher=The Sunday Times|date=February 4, 2007] Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum, writing in The Washington Post, said "Infidel" is a unique book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a unique writer, and both deserve to go far." [cite web|author=Anne Applebaum|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020102307.html|title=The Fight for Muslim Women|publisher=Washington Post|date=February 4, 2007] A review in The New York Times described the book as a "brave, inspiring and beautifully written memoir". [cite web|author=William Grimes|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/books/14grim.html?_r=1&oref=slogin|title=No Rest for a Feminist Fighting Radical Islam|publisher=New York Times|date=February 14, 2007] In an interview, Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria described it as "an amazing book by an amazing person". [cite web|url=http://foreignexchange.tv/?q=node/1920&PHPSESSID=199b3686fa14e48baf970ffd1e872920|title=Show 308 Transcript- February 23, 2007|publisher=Foreign Exchange|date=February 23, 2007]

Criticism

The book was also praised by Andrew Anthony in The Observer, though with a critical note: "But of course in voicing her opinion in the style she does, she risks lumping together over a billion people from different nations, cultures and traditions as a single 'problem'". [cite web|author= Andrew Anthony|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2005258,00.html|title=Taking the fight to Islam|publisher=The Observer|date=February 4, 2007] A book review in the The Economist echoed Anthony's sentiment, stating "much as she tries, the kind of problems that Ms Hirsi Ali describes in "Infidel" are all too human to be blamed entirely on Islam. Her book shows that her life, like those of other Muslims, is more complex than many people in the West may have realised. But the West's tendency to seek simplistic explanations is a weakness that Ms Hirsi Ali also shows she has been happy to exploit." [cite web|url=http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8663231|title=Dark secrets|publisher=The Economist|date=February 8, 2007] Lorraine Ali in Newsweek magazine gave the book a negative review, claiming that the reader will feel "manipulated" by Hirsi's story and "Hirsi Ali is more a hero among Islamophobes than Islamic women." and said that, Hirsi sounds as "single-minded and reactionary as the zealots she's worked so hard to oppose." [cite web|author=Lorraine Ali|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17204802/site/newsweek/|title=Only One Side of the Story|publisher=Newsweek|date=March 5, 2007] .

References

External links

* [http://www.ayaanmijnvrijheid.nl/ Official book website] nl icon
* [http://www.aei.org/books/bookID.870,filter.all/book_detail.asp AEI website]
* [http://www.governorsislandtolerancemonument.com/ Quote from Infidel in understanding freedom through tolerance]

;Excerpts
* [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?pid=524606&tab=1&agid=2 Introduction]
* [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?sid=286&pid=578995&agid=2&aid=14796909 Chapter 1]
* [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21160254-28737,00.html Edited excerpt]

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* cite web|author= Theodore Dalrymple|title=A feminist for the ages ...
url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070317.BKINFI17/TPStory/Entertainment|publisher="The Globe and Mail"

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