Infidel

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a memoir by an African girl of a Muslim family who broke free from her restrictive culture, became a prominent politician in Holland, fought against the injustice and suffering inflicted among Africans in the name of Islam, made a short movie with a Dutch artist, saw that artist and friend assassinated for it even as her own life was threatened, quit politics, moved to academic life in the US, and wrote a book about it all. Her book includes heart-rending scenes from her own childhood, adolescence, and adult life, as well as her own personal struggle with religious dilemma. As a religious man, I could not help sympathizing with her. I cried at her times of anguish and rejoiced with her achievements. It is most certainly the best book I’ve read so far in 2008.