About Books, February 14, 2009

Ariel Sabar's book, "My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq" is the amazing story of Yona Beh Sabagha, the last boy to be bar mitzvahed in Zakho, Iraq, who eventually becomes a respected scholar of Aramaic in the United States. The author knew little of this father's story and was rather embarrased by him until he became an adult and a father himself. Recently Ariel risked leaving his job to research and write his father's story. It was a successful gamble: Ariel emailed me this week that "My Father's Paradise" has been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award in the autobiography category.

Listen to the interview at http://www.wvik.org/listings-aboutbooks.htm