The Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Hooman Majd

Majd is an Iranian-American journalist and grandson of a celebrated Ayatollah, and uses his ties to the Islamic Republic and its culture and history to skillfully elucidate the politics both inside the government and clergy and from a street-level perspective. Subtitled The Paradox of Modern Iran, this is book that delivers insight into the politics of the Iranian government and citizens in relation to history, culture, and of course the United States and other Middle Eastern nations - and does so in a humorous, conversations manner. Equal parts political primer and travelogue, of especial interest are sections that examine the Iranian concepts of ta' arouf (a mix of elaborate etiquette ritual and backhanded one-upmanship) and haq (a concept of individual and national rights, as in the right to cheap gasoline, or nuclear power). Majd explains that these concepts are what drive the Iranian political character and are a main reason why the United States has so systematically failed to understand Iranian motives or make any meaningful advances in foreign policy with the Islamic Republic.

Other points of interest in this book include a look at the essential ideals and practices of Shiism, political and social differences between moderates and hard-liners (and the Western media's misguided notion that any Iranians outside of those self-exiled from last Shah's regime would even consider a non-Islamic state as "progressive"), the party scene and high drug-use rate in Iran, and a discussion of the level of repression in a religious theocracy (which Majd tends to downplay a bit much). It's a pity that this book came out in 2008, prior to the recent highly-publicized elections and subsequent mass protests at President Ahmadinejad's reelection - Majd's insight into those events would be interesting - fortunately, his analysis can be found in magazines such as Newsweek, The New Yorker, and a number of major newspapers such as the New York Times and LA Times. All in all, a highly readable exploration of a little-understood and fascinating nation and its culture. Fairly frequent profanity, explicit descriptions of drug use and sexual mores, and some descriptions of extreme violence.