Out of Place: A Memoir (Paperback)

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

Said's poignant memoir tells a story of displacement. Born in Jerusalem he spent much of his childhood in Cairo and Lebanon; a Christian Arab; a Palestinian with a US passport; a man with an English name 'yoked' to an Arabic surname; a man unsure of whether English or Arabic was his native tongue. Said records a lost or forgotten world, that of his early life, when his sense of being an outsider began with his first recalled thoughts; reflecting on fleeting past times against the background of the tumultuous years in the Middle East. It is an emotional account, full of vivid character portraits and events, begun following his diagnosis with leukemia, and covering mainly the period from his birth to 1962, when he received his doctorate. Readers familiar with Said's post-colonial writings, such as Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism, will understand to some extent his extraordinary thinking and academic achievements; this book will add an extra dimension to the man himself, bringing his background into focus in a manner hitherto unimagined. Highly recommended. (Kirkus UK)

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