The Caged Virgin or Mellon

The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam

Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Muslims who explore sources of morality other than Islam are threatened with death, and Muslim women who escape the virgins' cage are branded whores. So asserts Ayaan Hirsi Ali's profound meditation on Islam and the role of women, the rights of the individual, the roots of fanaticism, and Western policies toward Islamic countries and immigrant communities. Hard-hitting, outspoken, and controversial, The Caged Virgin is a call to arms for the emancipation of women from a brutal religious and cultural oppression and from an outdated cult of virginity. It is a defiant call for clear thinking and for an Islamic Enlightenment. But it is also the courageous story of how Hirsi Ali herself fought back against everyone who tried to force her to submit to a traditional Muslim woman's life and how she became a voice of reform.
Born in Somalia and raised Muslim, but outraged by her religion's hostility toward women, Hirsi Ali escaped an arranged marriage to a distant relative and fled to the Netherlands. There, she learned Dutch, worked as an interpreter in abortion clinics and shelters for battered women, earned a college degree, and started a career in politics as a Dutch parliamentarian. In November 2004, the violent murder on an Amsterdam street of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, with whom Hirsi Ali had written a film about women and Islam called Submission, changed her life. Threatened by the same group that slew van Gogh, Hirsi Ali now has round-the-clock protection, but has not allowed these circumstances to compromise her fierce criticism of the treatment of Muslim women, of Islamic governments' attempts to silence any questioning of their traditions, and of Westerngovernments' blind tolerance of practices such as genital mutilation and forced marriages of female minors occurring in their countries.
Hirsi Ali relates her experiences as a Muslim woman so that oppressed Muslim women can take heart and seek their own liberation. Drawing on her love of reason and the Enlightenment philosophers on whose principles democracy was founded, she presents her firsthand knowledge of the Islamic worldview and advises Westerners how best to address the great divide that currently exists between the West and Islamic nations and between Muslim immigrants and their adopted countries.
An international bestseller -- with updated information for American readers and two new essays added for this edition -- The Caged Virgin is a compelling, courageous, eye-opening work.

Library Journal

In this thought-provoking collection of essays, Somali-born Ali unrelentingly advocates women's rights in Islamic cultures and decries even a Western tolerance that serves to encourage Islamic subjugation of women by practices such as forced marriages, genital mutilation, and honor killings. Raised a devout Muslim, she fled an arranged marriage, sought sanctuary in Holland, learned Dutch, and worked as an interpreter with immigrants and social agencies, sharpening her awareness of the desperate plight of women and children in shelters. After taking a degree in political science at the University of Leiden and having some television exposure on the issue, she was elected to the Dutch Parliament in 2002. Her outspokenness and legislative work earned her awards as well as death threats, which intensified after her short film script, Submission, led to the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in late 2004. Undaunted by pressures, she wrote this book, which was published that same year in Holland. Contemporary and controversial, Ali castigates extremists who emphasize virginity to the point of violence and the failure of some muslims to self-criticize. Her work will be of interest in general and women's collections. [Ali was recently forced out of the Dutch Parliament and threatened with revocation of her Dutch citizenship owing to controversy surrounding her immigration, which she has since challenged. Ed.] Anna M. Donnelly St. John's Univ. Lib., NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents:

Preface: Breaking Through the Islamic Curtain     ix
Why Can't We Take a Critical Look at Ourselves?     1
The Virgins' Cage     9
Let Us Have a Voltaire     27
What Went Wrong?: A Modern Clash of Cultures     35
A Brief Personal History of My Emancipation     59
Bin Laden's Nightmare: Interview with Irshad Manji     71
Freedom Requires Constant Vigilance     77
Four Women's Lives     83
How to Deal with Domestic Violence More Effectively     95
Genital Mutilation Must Not Be Tolerated     101
Ten Tips for Muslim Women Who Want to Leave     111
Submission: Part I     123
The Need for Self-Reflection Within Islam     133
Portrait of a Heroine as a Young Woman     145
A Call for Clear Thinking     153
Defending Western Ideals     159
The Holiness of Secular Books     165
Notes     179
Index     184

New interesting textbook: El Salto Radical: una Lección Personal en Mando Extremo

Mellon: An American Life

Author: David Cannadin

A landmark work from one of the preeminent historians of our time: the first published biography of Andrew W. Mellon, the American colossus who bestrode the worlds of industry, government, and philanthropy, leaving his transformative stamp on each.
Following a boyhood in nineteenth-century Pittsburgh, Andrew Mellon overcame painful shyness to become one of America’s greatest financiers. Across an unusually diverse range of enterprises, he would build a legendary personal fortune, tracking America’s course to global economic supremacy. Personal happiness, however, eluded him. He had been bred to do one thing, and that he did with brilliant and innovative entrepreneurship.
Mellon’s wealth and name allowed him to dominate Pennsylvania politics, and under presidents Harding, Coolidge, and finally Hoover, he made the federal government run like a business. But this man of straightforward conservative politics was no politician. He would be hailed as the architect of the Roaring Twenties, but, staying too long, would be blamed for the Great Depression, eventually to find himself a broken idol.
The issues Andrew W. Mellon confronted–concerning government, business, influence, the individual and the public good–remain at the center of our national discourse to this day. Indeed, the positions he steadfastly held reemerged relatively intact with the Reagan revolution, having lain dormant since the New Deal. David Cannadine’s magisterial biography brings to life a towering, controversial figure, casting new light on our history and the evolution of our public values.

Library Journal

Cannadine (British history, Inst. of Historical Research, Univ. of London; The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy) presents the first comprehensive biography of Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937), a long-awaited, extensively researched project that serves its subject well. Cannadine introduces us to the shy, reticent Mellon, born into a Pittsburgh family of achievers, before moving on to his early work in lumber and banking, his ill-fated marriage to Nora McMullen, and his constant indulgence of his children, Paul and Ailsa. In 1914, he was the richest man in the United States. In public life, he served as the longest and most controversial secretary of the Treasury, retaining that office during the politically conservative years of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. He reduced the public debt from $26 billion in 1921 to $16 billion by 1930. Late in life, he gave $10,000,000 and 21 masterpieces purchased from the Hermitage in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), to establish the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. As Cannadine shows us, when Mellon's life ended during the New Deal, he stood for fiscal policies that were no longer supported. This is a valuable portrait of a banker, statesman, philanthropist, and art collector whose initiatives still resonate today. Highly recommended for all libraries, especially public libraries with a well-established history or business collection. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/06.] Mary C. Allen, Everett Lib., WA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Lavish, multifaceted portrait of the early-20th-century American business titan, emphasizing the man rather than the money. British historian Cannadine (In Churchill's Shadow, 2003, etc.) shows power, politics, art and money all working together in the life of Andrew Mellon (1855-1937). Born and bred into the world of finance and industry, Mellon was shy and obsessed with self-sufficiency. A lengthy opening section here on Mellon's father, Thomas, explains his impact on his son's character. At 19, Mellon began work at the family bank under his father's watchful eye. Their formula for success-invest to increase value; leave get-rich-quick schemes to fools-was hardly revolutionary, but Cannadine's exposition of the early years lays the groundwork for a fuller picture of Mellon. Somewhat repetitive stories of mergers and acquisitions (both financial and artistic) frame the story of Mellon's personal struggles. Less than adept in relationships outside the office, at 43 he fell for and married an English girl of 19. The marriage ended in divorce 14 years later, the first of two major scandals the otherwise private Mellon endured. (The second involved accusations of tax fraud in the mid-1930s by a hostile New Deal government.) Though the financier preferred to exercise his power out of the spotlight, circumstances often moved him to the center of attention. When asked to become Secretary of the Treasury in 1921, Mellon would have liked to turn down the offer in order to concentrate on building closer ties with his estranged daughter, but he felt obligated to help rebuild a country recovering from war. Once in Washington, he saw an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy in the form of theNational Gallery of Art. Although he didn't live to see its completion, his dream was ultimately fulfilled. Cannadine's insightful account reveals Mellon as a man who took personal risks that seemingly defied his upbringing. Grand successes and epic failures, engrossingly recounted.