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Also by Neil MacFarquhar:

The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday, May 2009
Hardcover
The Sand Cafe, April 2006
Hardcover

THE MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF HIZBOLLAH WISHES YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY
By: Neil MacFarquhar

Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East

PublicAffairs
May 2009
On Sale: April 27, 2009
359 pages
ISBN: 1586486357
EAN: 9781586486358
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction

Since his boyhood in Qadhafi’s Libya, Neil MacFarquhar has developed a counterintuitive sense that the Middle East, despite all the bloodshed in its recent history, is a place of warmth, humanity, and generous eccentricity. In this book, he introduces a cross-section of unsung, dynamic men and women pioneering political and social change. There is the Kuwaiti sex therapist in a leather suit with matching red headscarf, and the Syrian engineer advocating a less political interpretation of the Koran. MacFarquhar interacts with Arabs and Iranians in their every day lives, removed from the violence we see constantly, yet wrestling with the region’s future. These are people who realize their region is out of step with the world and are determined to do something about it—on their own terms.

Media Buzz

Charlie Rose - June 4, 2009
Morning Edition - May 4, 2009