"This engaging collection of essays by Kermani. examines topics ranging from 10th-century poetic convention to modern-day extremist attacks in an expertly crafted critique of the East-West paradigm that often dominates contemporary discussions of immigration, globalism, and the preservation of ethnic and national identities. [It] will be a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in better understanding the intellectual ties that bridge a social and cultural division that is popularly conceived as being thousands of years wide." -- Publisher's Weekly "The moral power behind Kermani's extraordinary achievements is scarcely paralleled among all the great figures of German literature." -- Süddeutsche Zeitung "Through his work Kermani shows us the challenges facing the critical mind today and what it can achieve." -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung "As one of its best-known intellectuals, Kermani represents the new Germany." -- Der Spiegel "Kermani is living proof that, even in the generation after Walser and Habermas, the intellectual has not become obsolete as a public figure. He also attests to the source of this vitality, which comes both from education and from an active participation in the world that he observes.

" -- Die Zeit "In the end, Kermani's exquisite book is marked by a refusal of the fundamentalist's temptation to let Islam's dogma eclipse its aesthetic permeability, and a refusal to let taut entanglements slacken into cultural amnesia. Taken together, these essays give texture to the tapestry of affinities that weaves together the two poles of his heritage -- and, perhaps, of ours." -- LA Review of Books.