All Strangers Are Kin, Zora ONeill
All Strangers Are Kin, Zora ONeill
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All Strangers Are Kin
Adventures in Arabic and the Arab World

Author: Zora O'Neill

Narrator: Julia Farhat, Zora O'Neill

Unabridged: 11 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/30/2025

Synopsis

*Winner of the Lowell Thomas Award for Best Travel Book* An American woman determined to learn the Arabic language travels to the Middle East to pursue her dream in this “witty memoir” (Us Weekly). Join Zora O’Neill for a grand tour through the Middle East, to laugh with her in Egypt, delight in the stories she passes on from the Gulf region, and find yourself transformed by her experiences in Lebanon and Morocco. She’s packed her dictionaries, her unsinkable sense of humor, and her talent for making fast friends of strangers. From quiet, bougainvillea-lined streets to the lively buzz of crowded medinas, from families’ homes to local hot spots, she brings a part of the world that is often flattened by news headlines into real and colorful relief. A natural storyteller with an eye for the deeply absurd and the deeply human, O’Neill explores the indelible links between culture and communication. A powerful testament to the dynamism of language, All Strangers Are Kin reminds us that learning another tongue leaves you rich with so much more than words.“Zora O’Neill is a wonderful writer, a hakawati who can spin a tale with the best of them.” —Rabih Alameddine, author of The Hakawati and An Unnecessary Woman“Wry, witty, and charmingly erudite, this lovely book goes through the looking glass of the Arabic language and emerges with a radiant image of the Arab world.” —Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Life Without a Recipe, Crescent, The Language of Baklava, and others

Reviews

Goodreads review by Steven on July 06, 2016

It is true that the only way to become fluent in a foreign language is to spend time amongst native speakers in their own land and that to truly understand and appreciate the people and culture of another country you need to be able to speak their language. In this book, the author seeks to expand h......more

Goodreads review by Beth on June 11, 2016

What happens when a middle-aged woman from the US decides to try and master her limited Arabic by travelling around the Middle East to different countries, learning some of the ins and outs of each version of the language? A bit of chaos, a bit of confusion, and an interesting history lesson thrown......more

Goodreads review by Emily on July 27, 2017

One of my new favorites. Funny and engaging. I already love Arabic, but this made the language all the more delightful. What a grand way to get a taste of the flavor of so many different Arabic-speaking countries. If you're not an Arabic speaker, this is a great- and needed- intro to a part of the w......more

Goodreads review by Kateri on November 04, 2017

I came to this book through the NPR podcast The World in Words, and I'm so glad I read it. To a language nerd, the heartfelt hand-wringing over accuracy vs. connection is both familiar and delightful. The descriptions of popular culture, traditional language, and human connection in Arab cities are......more

Goodreads review by Linda on June 16, 2017

I love this book. Her journey to discover the nuances of a foreign language and become fluent in a language with as rich a history as Arabic is wonderful. The humor, the danger and the overall insights provided into the Muslim culture through its language is fascinating. If you are a word nerd as I......more

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