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My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness "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." "Adina Hoffman's writing is historical magic ... 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
"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." "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." "A triumph of sympathetic imagination, dogged research and impassioned writing. More than the story of one man's life [My Happiness] brings to light entire strata of historical and cultural experience that have been neglected or purposefully covered over. For readers of English there is no comparable work." "Hoffman's lively, insightful, artistically contextualized portrait of a great and accessible poet provides a corrective perspective on Palestinian culture and offers new evidence of literature's transcendent power." "[My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness] is not just a biography of a remarkable man, but a focused history of a region.... A lovingly researched, well-rendered portrait." "A rich tapestry of the personal, the literary and the political, skillfully woven by a sympathetic writer ... Hoffman's intense but often humorous book is a powerful reminder of the singularity and complexity of this most intractable of conflicts and of the ability of the human spirit to be creative in adversity." "This biography is a literary event in two senses: it introduces a new, world-class poet and is itself an unforgettable work of art." "Biographer, essayist, and literary critic Hoffman masterfully captures the life and work of this highly original poet. An exceptional introduction to a literary world that has, until now, been little known to English-language readers, this is highly recommended." Read the full reviews in:
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House of Windows Portraits from a Jerusalem Neighborhood Steerforth Press, 2000 Broadway Books (paperback), 2002 "Steadily perceptive and brimming with informed passion, Hoffman's account opens the shades on one of the most remarkable cities on earth." "This is a beautifully written, unassuming and ethical book." "Adina Hoffman's House of Windows conjures up with wonderful immediacy the sensory details of the working-class Jerusalem neighborhood where she has lived for the last [nineteen] years. Her clear-sighted account brings us face to face with her Arab and Jewish neighbors ... who, in this politically charged sacred city somehow manage to lead lives of resilience and courage." "Here is the round of daily life presented in graceful and perceptive prose." "[Adina Hoffman is] one of our favorite writers in Israel." |
