Minister Without Portfolio - by Hooman Majd (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ comes a globe-spanning memoir of identity, exile, and reinvention.

In many ways, Hooman Majd has led a charmed life: the son of a high-ranking diplomat in pre-Revolutionary Iran, he grew up in the upper echelons of Iranian society and in cosmopolitan diplomatic enclaves in San Francisco, London, and Washington, DC. As a young man, after Ayatollah Khomeini's Revolution in 1979, Majd sold real estate to fellow Iranian exiles in Beverly Hills, tried his hand at writing, and found his way into the orbit of Chris Blackwell, the impresario of Island Records and mastermind behind the careers of Bob Marley & the Wailers, U2, and other global superstars. After rising through the ranks--and sometimes, but not always, the charts--Majd went on to write three influential books about his homeland and served as a consultant and contributor to NBC News on Iran. Yet, for all this authority and access, Majd could never truly call any place "home."

As he recounts in his open-hearted memoir Minister without Portfolio--named for the tongue-in-cheek title Blackwell bestowed on him--Hooman Majd has always been shadowed by a sense of precarity, even as he bantered with ambassadors' wives at smoke-filled soirees or traded gossip with Grace Jones and Dennis Hopper at Goldeneye, Blackwell's Jamaican estate and the former home of Ian Fleming. Majd had seen first-hand the havoc wrought on his family--and so many others--by the Iranian revolution. All his life, he has been questioned, frisked, or even threatened at points of entry. Though he has risked several return trips to Iran, today, officially, he can never go back. How can you build an identity when no place will claim you as its own?

Told with grace, insight, and longing--and filled with riotous, sometimes shocking portraits of larger-than-life personalities and illuminating insights about the entanglements between Iran and the West--Minister without Portfolio is a trenchant memoir of belonging nowhere and everywhere at once.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Ayatollah Begs to Differ

"Perhaps the best book yet written on the contradictions of contemporary Iran... It captures like no book in recent memory the ethos of the country, in elegant and precise prose." --Reza Aslan, Los Angeles Times

"Illuminating... Captivating... A discerning guide to a complex country." --Joseph Richard Preville, The Christian Science Monitor

"Essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the paradox that is Iran (as well as America) in the post-Bush world." --GQ

"In this delightful book, Hooman Majd, a gifted storyteller, takes us on a tour of his own private Persia, which is also the Iran of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The results are illuminating, humorous, sobering, and ultimately reassuring." --Jon Lee Anderson

"Great books can be bridges too, and a prime proof of this is Iranian author Hooman Majd's wonderfully informed and enlightening new book, The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran... He writes elegantly about the art of ta'arouf, the polite dance of self-deprecation--a kind of one-downmanship--that dominates social interactions. He expertly dissects Iran's superiority/inferiority complex, born of centuries of manipulation by the West and a stunted nationalism... A refreshing and mind-opening book, a nuanced and informed portrait of one of our most misunderstood global neighbors." --Don George, National Geographic Traveler, Book of the Month

"Profound in insight... Hooman Majd's delightfully unclassifiable book, The Ayatollah Begs to Differ [is] part travelogue, part reminiscence, and shifting between bemusement, grudging respect, and despair... While blithely exposing hypocrisies and paradoxes, Majd does not spare the Islamic Republic's critics, either." --Max Rodenbeck, The New York Review of Books

"The book is particularly strong on class and social identity in the maturing Iranian revolution... He is also very strong on the relationships among Shiite theology, history, and contemporary Iranian culture, both secular and religious. What makes the book urgent now, however, is its peculiar angle of vision... His carefully observed case against the assumptions of the regime-change crowd in the West is a very important contribution; one hopes that American policymakers will take the time to absorb this book." --Steve Coll, The New Yorker

Praise for The Ayatollahs' Democracy:

"Majd offers a nimble take on Iran's fraught political landscape... Majd, an Iranian diplomat's son who was largely educated in America, has impeccable connections and is able to infiltrate the official and nonofficial camps fluidly." --Kirkus Review

"Intriguing... His books are worth reading because they offer acute, almost 'insider' analyses of Iranian policies and intra-regime rivalries." --Roland Elliott Brown, The Guardian

Praise for The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay:

"Few people are better positioned to offer insight into U.S.-Iranian relations than Iranian-American journalist Hooman Majd... The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay offers a street-level view of life, culture, politics and political repression in Iran today." --Terry Gross, NPR

"Not just a book about Iran--it's a personal story that will speak to any readers who have ever been disassociated from home... struggled to navigate a new culture... or attempted to come to terms with their own foreignness... Reveals an Iran far more nuanced, sophisticated and affluent than most Western readers might imagine... The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay completes a trilogy that illuminates the politics, society, and culture of modern Iran through the eyes of the decidedly hip, well-connected Majd."
--Jon Letman, The Christian Science Monitor

"No one takes you inside Iran like Hooman Majd, whose keen observations and rich writing tell the story of an illuminating, delightful, and at times, horrifying journey."
--Ann Curry

"A dark story, rivetingly told... As a gifted writer and the grandson of an ayatollah, Majd is well-placed to probe the role of cultural pride in Iranian diplomacy and the Shia exceptionalism that makes Iran both a fundamentalist state and a less tedious place to be during Ramadan than Dubai."
--Azadeh Moaveni, Financial Times

"A breezy, down-to-earth account of everyday domestic life in the polluted, congested, tense and utterly fascinating megapolis that is modern Tehran... Majd goes on to build a sympathetic and nuanced picture of a complex society too often misinterpreted by the outside world... An insightful study of how politics and religion intersect with daily life in the Middle East's oldest and most culturally rich state."
--Ed O Loughlin, The Telegraph

"Written in Majd's wry, laconic style, in which gentle comical lampooning combines with the relaying of facts... The political insights are fascinating... An insightful, appealing read." --Leyla Sanai, The Independent

"Bold and discerning... Hooman Majd's new book on Iran, The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay, is his best yet." --Roland Elliott Brown, The Spectator

"Majd's account is useful and elucidating... [He offers] insightful glimpses of the complex Iranian character."
--Publishers Weekly

"A vibrant, witty account."
--Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe