Fast Times in Palestine - Softcover

Olson, Pamela J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615456243 ISBN 13: 9780615456249

Publisher: Mason Hill Press, 2011

Synopsis

Pamela Olson, a small town girl from eastern Oklahoma, had what she always wanted: a physics degree from Stanford University. But instead of feeling excited for what came next, she felt consumed by dread and confusion. This irresistible memoir chronicles her journey from aimless ex-bartender to Ramallah-based journalist and foreign press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candidate.

With dizzying speed she finds herself attending Yasser Arafat's funeral, sharing a holiday dinner with a suicide bomber's family, tour-guiding Israeli friends around the West Bank, dating a Palestinian from a conservative Muslim village, being held at gunpoint and injured by a stun grenade, and witnessing the 2005 Disengagement from inside the Gaza Strip. The gripping narrative focuses not only on violence, terror, and politics but also on the daily rounds of house parties, concerts, barbecues, weddings, jokes, harvests, and romantic drama that happen in between.

From idyllic olive groves to Palestinian beer gardens, from Passover in Tel Aviv to Ramadan in a Hamas village, from rooftop parties in Ramallah to militant rallies in Nablus, the book is packed with suspense, humor, and unforgettable characters. Its seamless blend of travelogue, memoir, and narrative journalism ramps the average American up to a sophisticated, multi-faceted understanding of the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Funny, gorgeous, shocking, and galvanizing, Fast Times in Palestine challenges the way we think not only about the Middle East but about human nature and our place in the world.

For more information, visit pamolson.org

About this title

About the Author

Pamela Olson grew up in small-town Oklahoma and studied physics and political science at Stanford University. She lived in Ramallah, Palestine for two years, during which she served as head writer and editor for the Palestine Monitor and foreign press coordinator for Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi’s 2005 presidential campaign. Her writing has appeared in the International Herald Tribune, CounterPunch, Israel’s Occupation Magazine, Mondoweiss, and The Stanford Magazine among other publications. Fast Times in Palestine is her first book.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mason Hill Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0615456243
• ISBN 13: 9780615456249
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 382