My name is Stacy Holden, and I am an Associate Professor of History at Purdue University. I will be editing an anthology on American Representations of the Middle East and North Africa, and one chapter (of ten) will focus exclusively on Arab-American writing on the Arab world. This is not my forte, and I am seeking recommendations from you regarding what literature should be considered for this particular chapter. At this point, I am considering Anthony Shadid’s The Stone House and Hisham Matar’s In the Country of Men. What works do you consider seminal in terms of Arab-Americans writing explicitly–whether fiction or non-fiction–on the Arab world? I am interested in both contemporary pieces as well as those in history, if there are any that pre-date the last 20 years?
If you could send suggestions to sholden@purdue.edu, I would be grateful.