House of Stone
 First edition | |
| Author | Anthony Shadid |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Published | 2012 |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 283 |
| Preceded by | Night Draws Near |
House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East is a 2012 book by Anthony Shadid, a former New York Times journalist.[1]
Story
[edit]
House of Stone details Shadid's return to and rebuilding of his family's home in Marjayoun (Arabic: مرجعيون: Lebanese pronunciation[ˈmaɾʒ.ʕajuːn]), also known as 'Jdeideh / Jdeida / Jdeidet Marjeyoun, in the administrative district of Marjeyoun District, in the Nabatieh Governorate in Southern Lebanon.[1]
It recounts the story of his family, particularly his great-grandfathers Isber Samara and Ayyash Shadid of the Bani Ghassan, originally from Yemen via Jordan and the Hauran ("Houran" in the book). It was this house that Shadid was rebuilding. He interweaves history and physical descriptions of the region, including nearby Mount Hermon and the Litani River.[1]
Publication
[edit]The book was published in 2012, shortly after Shadid died while covering the Syrian civil war).
Reception
[edit]The BookScore assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 8.6 out of 10.[2] In the March/April 2013 issue of Bookmarks, reported on reviews from several publications with ratings for the novel out of five: Seattle Times and Washington Post gave it a five, Miami Herald, New York Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NY Times Book Review gave it a four with the critical summary saying, "Although critics briefly noted some occasionally meandering passages and confusing chronology, these criticisms were deemed insignificant".[3]
Awards and honors
[edit]- 2012 National Book Award (Nonfiction), finalist.[4]
- 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography), finalist.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Shadid, Anthony (2012). House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. x-xii (family tree), xiii-xiv (bayt), 35, 74. ISBN 9780547134666. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ "House of Stone". The BookScore. Archived from the original on 10 Jan 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "House of Stone". Bookmarks. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ "National Book Award Finalists Announced Today". Library Journal. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
- ^ John Williams (January 14, 2012). "National Book Critics Circle Names 2012 Award Finalists". New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
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