Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
(Book)

Everyone has a dream -- something she fantasizes about doing and generally never gets around to. This is the story of Azar Nafisi's dream, and of the nightmare that made it come true. For two years before she left Iran in 1997, a small circle of seven young women gathered together every Thursday in secret at her home to read and discuss great books of Western literature. At first they were suspicious of one another, reticent and afraid to speak their minds. But soon they began to share their dreams and disappointments, as their stories entwined with those they were reading: The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, and Lolita -- their Lolita, as they imagined her in Tehran. Reading Lolita in Tehran is the breathtakingly moving story of these young women and their clandestine meetings, and of Azar Nafisi's experiences teaching English literature in Iran. It is a tale of courage and heartache, an unforgettable story of seven remarkable women, and of the triumph of imagination.