I'm discovering a serious role model in Azadeh Moaveni, author of "Lipstick Jihad," a book I'd repeatedly rolled my eyes at for its frothy title, convinced it was a dilettante's effort to serve up current events in processed, bite-sized pieces. I was wrong. When curiosity finally got the best of me during a Borders run last week, I sucked it up, got a Members Rewards card (finally) and skeptically turned to the opening pages. Though I'm only half way, I'm hooked on Moaveni's prose--it's honest, eye-opening and so accessible, without whittling down its subject matter--growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran. With that being said, I'm still not digging the title and wonder why such a gifted writer succumbed to a shallow marketing ploy...it screams "STEREOTYPE!" and contradicts pretty much all the identity-related subtelties and nuances Moaveni discusses throughout her memoir. I can't decide what's worse--the cover image of a Iranian woman in a headscarf, clutching a cell phone or the "i" in Jihad, which has been replaced by--really--a tube of lipstick. Opinions?
