Book review: Al’ America

Jonathan Curiel travels through America’s Arab and Islamic roots.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The Jerome Corsis of this world see a Muslim behind every bush, and according to Al’ America, they’re right! In the fine tradition of The Irish in America, Jonathan Curiel, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, puts the usa through a sieve and sorts out Muslim influences on American culture.

Much of the colonization of America was made possible by Arab scholarship and innovation; Christopher Columbus relied heavily on the work of Arab astronomers and geographers. The Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek tips his hat to “the Arabic, minor harmonic sense” that influenced his signature sound, and surf-rock legend Dick Dale tells Curiel that his megahit “Misirlou,” best known as the Pulp Fiction theme song, was “actually an Arabic song.” In his most engaging chapter, Curiel analyzes Elvis Presley’s near obsession with Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet—the King sought to produce a film version of the book, and a copy was found on his nightstand after his death.

Ultimately, Curiel predicts Arab culture will transcend even the post-9/11 climate of racism and stereotyping. “From its beginning, America intersected with Arab and Muslim culture, borrowing from it, admonishing it, fearing it, coexisting with it,” he writes. “The foundation of that legacy was undisturbed by 9/11.”


If you buy a book using a Bookshop link on this page, a small share of the proceeds supports our journalism.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate