“All this saddens me. Literature moves civilizations forward, and Islam is no exception.”

—Asra Nomani decries the indefinite postponement of the publication of Sherry Jones’ novel, The Jewel of Medina, which was originally slated for publication on August 12th.  The novel — ostensibly the first in a two-book, $100,000 deal with Random House — portrays the life of A’isha, who is typically characterized as the prophet of Islam Muhammad’s favorite wife.  The novel charts A’isha’s life from her engagement to the Prophet Muhammad at age six up through his death. 

Nomani, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal, argues that Random House cancelled the novel’s upcoming publication due to fears that Jones’ book would instigate an upheaval similar to that caused by Sir Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.  Sir Salman’s 1988 novel was condemned as blasphemous, and Iran’s late Ayatollah Khomeini declared a non-binding legal opinion, or fatwa, urging the execution of Sir Salman. Nomani penned an opinion piece this past week in The Wall Street Journal that laid the blame for the book’s cancellation on Denise Spellburg, Associate Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.  Spellburg served as a consulting historian and was asked to comment on the book by Random House.

Defending herself against accusations that she derailed the publication of The Jewel of Medina, Denise Spellburg wrote in The Wall Street Journal:
 

As a historian invited to "comment" on the book by its Random House editor at the author’s express request, I objected strenuously to the claim that "The Jewel of Medina" was "extensively researched," as stated on the book jacket. As an expert on Aisha’s life, I felt it was my professional responsibility to counter this novel’s fallacious representation of a very real woman’s life. The author and the press brought me into a process, and I used my scholarly expertise to assess the novel. It was in that same professional capacity that I felt it my duty to warn the press of the novel’s potential to provoke anger among some Muslims.

Random House neutrally insists that the decision was made "for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel.”

Readers will have to judge the work for themselves. The only excerpt currently available includes Jones’ portrayal of the consummation of A’isha’s marriage to the Prophet Muhammad: "the pain of consummation soon melted away. Muhammad was so gentle. I hardly felt the scorpion’s sting…”

It may be that this feat of fictional imagineering may have almost nothing in common, save for its foray into the politically and religiously sensitive, with Sir Salman’s novel.

Mimi Hanaoka

There is no escape from the frenzy of Beijing Olympics coverage. And the one thing that all the American media can’t talk enough about is how polluted the city and/or country is.

There are daily haze reports, particulate meter readings, algae bloom cleanups, athletes arriving in the airport in masks, athletes training in other countries to only enter Beijing on the day of their event, etc.

China is polluted; there is no doubt about that. But the media coverage so far makes it seem like China is the only country at fault for polluting the Earth and ruining the environment.

All this pollution watch coverage doesn’t deflect from the fact the United States still is one of the top per capita carbon emitters on the planet. But the media seem to overlook this and none have mentioned this in any of their reports about China’s pollution.

China’s population is 1.3 billion people and growing; but each person’s carbon footprint is minimal compared to individual Americans. Most Americans own a car; sometimes a family owns more than one car. And most need to drive to get to work, or run errands, or even to get to spots where we can enjoy nature. We usually live in houses that consume a lot of energy from electronics like computers, flat-screen televisions, washing/drying machines, etc. A lot of rural Chinese don’t have electricity or large houses or cars. Those that live in cities usually live in apartments, which use less electricity than houses, and get around by public transportation or bicycle.

But the Chinese lifestyle and country has changed over the past decades. The opening up of the economy has lifted many of its citizens out of poverty but, in return, has turned them into consumers. Many of the nouveau-riche now want cars, electronics, and other things that make their lives more comfortable, but at the cost to their environment. But why should the media criticize the Chinese for wanting and creating lifestyles that are similar to Americans at the same financial levels yet not pointing out the polluting ways of ourselves?

Foreign companies moved into China to take advantage of cheap labor and thus are directly responsible for creating factories that spew out the pollution that everyone is so critical to the Chinese about. The Chinese government is to blame because they should have put regulations in place to control the levels of toxins emitted instead of just seeing dollar signs in their eyes. But the foreign companies, many of them American, are responsible too, yet they turn a blind eye and also see only profit margins and moneymaking ability.

The media needs to dig deeper in their China pollution coverage to uncover the unpopular truths about who really is to blame and is responsible for the unfortunate environmental problems that China is dealing with now.

They would find that their coverage is hypocritical and irresponsible, especially considering all the airplane rides and energy-consumption their Olympics coverage is using up.

keeping the earth ever green

Lisa Tae-Ran Schroeder

My last experience playing a musical instrument of any kind was about 15 years ago. I was in the supposedly soundproof practice rooms of my college’s music building.

After I spent not an insignificant amount of time tuning my borrowed guitar, I launched into a show-stopping rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." When I finished I distinctly heard a beautiful melody coming from the next room in which there apparently was a protégé of Yo Yo Ma doing Bach.

I know everyone has to begin somewhere, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step, etc., etc., but since then I’ve not been inclined to play the guitar while any souls are within a 100-yard radius. Considering I live in spitting distance of eight million people, you can safely conclude I don’t play at all. Note: This also applies to karaoke no matter how many drinks I’ve had.

So I admire the folks who put themselves out there, get up on stage, and bare their souls. It’s indeed a strange exercise to subject oneself to extreme vulnerability on a regular basis. (You writers know what I’m talking about, too.) The hardiest of these is the subway busker. Some are great and some should take a vow of silence, but either way, these people have guts. They play in hostile environments — trains roaring into the stations, brakes squealing, heat, gross stuff being thrown into their instrument cases, and possibly the worst, people just ignoring them. It’s a bit masochistic if you think about. Most do it, not for the pittance of change they get, but because they are driven to play music for people.

That’s one of the reasons I invited Don Witter to play at the book release party for The Subway Chronicles at the New York Transit Museum, housed in a converted subway station. He left his job in 1994 as a computer network troubleshooter to play classical guitar full time. He considers playing in the subway “as natural as anything else.”

Grand Army Plaza is his preferred station. I see him every Wednesday morning. He positions himself on a stool under his banner and plays one soothing tune after another. My favorite is "Girl from Ipanema." Yeah, I’d rather be on a beach in Brazil than 100 feet underground on my way to work.

Recently at Grand Army Plaza there has been a man playing a full-size harp. I mean, good gracious, how dedicated (read crazy) you must be to lug that thing from your apartment, all the way to the station, and then down at least two flights of stairs to the platform. (See the November 27th post.)

It’s a misunderstanding to think that buskers perform in the stations because they can’t get other gigs. Don, who is a member of Music Under New York (MUNY), an MTA group that boasts membership of 100 musicians and organizes the stations and times of their performances, regularly plays around the city, including venues like Lincoln Center. The musicians in MUNY range from the Big Apple Quartet (barbershop) to the Ebony Hillbillies (left) to Sean Grissom, the Cajun cellist (linked on YouTube). From what I understand the auditions are fairly rigorous.

But I’m just not sure what to make of the Saw Lady. I guess if teenage boys can turn plastic containers into drums, why can’t she wield music from a saw? She’s performed in Paris, Rome, Florence, Prague, and Tel-Aviv but likes busking in New York best. “New Yorkers make an honest audience.”

I think that’s all that anyone, be it musician, writer, tax attorney, is looking for: an honest audience. Validation is a powerful thing. When I ask trusted friends to read my work, the absolute worst response I could receive is, “It’s good.” If I wanted an answer like that I’d just give it to my mom, who thinks everything I put on paper is better than Hemingway. (Thanks, Mom!)

That’s the blessing and curse that buskers live with — instant feedback. As Don put it, “You have to have character to play there.” He has also learned some valuable tips from playing on the platform. "If someone is hanging around too long, do not have too much money in your case. Play every single note well and bring your business cards because you never know who might hire you."

That’s probably Susan Cagle’s mantra: "You never know." More on her during the next post.

Listen to Don Witter play "Girl from Ipanema" here.

Jacquelin Cangro