[A] timely, well-researched and written analysis of popular and private life that is too often underestimated or overlooked yet which constitutes the majority of human existence in a region too often viewed from the narrow constraints of the state and its unrepresentative elites. -John Entelis

The broadening of Islamic studies (or regional studies on Islam) to include study of ordinary people, their daily lives, and popular cultures has been long overdue. [An] extremely interesting and innovative study which, in its own way, successfully challenges the pervasive misperception of the Middle East simply as a conflict-prone region. -Journal of Islamic Studies

... provides useful background reading for introductory courses to everyday history of the Middle East. -Journal of Palestine Studies

presents a grassroots look at what it is like to actually live in the Muslim Middle East... from Aghanistan and Iran to Morocco. [It] shows how religion is an important part, but not the sole part, of these people's lives. -Middle East Insight

This book is a welcome addition to the literature.... -The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences

Focusing on the experiences of ordinary men, women, and children from across the Middle East, from Iran and Afghanistan in the east to Morocco in the west, the 35 stories, poems, and essays collected in this anthology vividly convey an intimate sense of life in the Middle East today. Newly revised and updated to reflect recent changes in Middle East politics and society, this anthology will engage students and scholars of this vast and complex region.

Contributors include Lila Abu-Lughod, Jon W. Anderson, Walter Armbrust, Bishara Bahbah, Brian Barber, Anne H. Betteridge, Annabelle Boucher, Donna Lee Bowen, Steven C. Caton, Dawn Chatty, Driss Chraibi, Susan Shaefer Davis, Kevin Dwyer, Evelyn A. Early, Christine Eickelman, Dale Eickelman, Elizabeth Fernea, Angel Foster, Erika Friedl, Steve Howard, Michael E. Jansen, Margaret Mills, Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Emily Nasrallah, Kristina Nelson, Susan Ossman, Tayib Salih, Diane Singerman, Susan Slyomovics, Jenny White, and Quintan Wiktorowicz.