Mother of All Pigs
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Malu Halasa. (2017). Mother of All Pigs. The Unnamed Press.

Malu Halasa. 2017. Mother of All Pigs. The Unnamed Press.

Malu Halasa, Mother of All Pigs. The Unnamed Press, 2017.

Malu Halasa. Mother of All Pigs. The Unnamed Press, 2017.

OverDrive Product Record

sortTitle

Mother of All Pigs

crossRefId

3647365

images

• cover:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/6852-1/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img100.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• thumbnail:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/6852-1/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img200.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover150Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/6852-1/372/C71/79/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img150.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover300Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/6852-1/372/C71/79/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img400.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg

formats

1. • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9781944700355
   • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
   • id: ebook-epub-adobe
2. • identifiers:
     1. • type: ASIN
        • value: B0777835XS
   • name: Kindle Book
   • id: ebook-kindle
3. • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9781944700355
   • name: OverDrive Read
   • id: ebook-overdrive

mediaType

eBook

primaryCreator

• role: Author
• name: Malu Halasa

id

372c7179-8b70-4fa5-aa69-5d0821289e84

title

Mother of All Pigs

starRating

0

dateAdded

2017-11-30T17:43:00-05:00

contentDetails

1. • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=3647365
   • type: text/html
   • account:
     • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
     • id: 1151

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain

False

images

• cover:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/6852-1/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img100.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• thumbnail:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/6852-1/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img200.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover150Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/6852-1/372/C71/79/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img150.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover300Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/6852-1/372/C71/79/{372C7179-8B70-4FA5-AA69-5D0821289E84}Img400.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg

isPublicPerformanceAllowed

False

formats

1. • fileName: MotherofAllPigs9781944700355
   • partCount: 0
   • fileSize: 770182
   • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9781944700355
   • rights:
     1. • type: Copying
        • value: 0
     2. • type: Printing
        • value: 0
     3. • type: Lending
        • value: 0
     4. • type: ReadAloud
        • value: 0
     5. • type: ExpirationRights
        • value: 0
   • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
   • isReadAlong: False
   • id: ebook-epub-adobe
   • onSaleDate: 11/14/2017
   • samples:
     1. • source: From the book
        • formatType: ebook-overdrive
        • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=372c7179-8b70-4fa5-aa69-5d0821289e84&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
2. • fileName: MotherofAllPigs9781944700355
   • partCount: 0
   • fileSize: 0
   • identifiers:
     1. • type: ASIN
        • value: B0777835XS
   • name: Kindle Book
   • isReadAlong: False
   • id: ebook-kindle
   • onSaleDate: 11/14/2017
   • samples:
     1. • source: From the book
        • formatType: ebook-overdrive
        • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=372c7179-8b70-4fa5-aa69-5d0821289e84&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
3. • fileName: MotherofAllPigs9781944700355
   • partCount: 0
   • fileSize: 770182
   • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9781944700355
   • name: OverDrive Read
   • isReadAlong: False
   • id: ebook-overdrive
   • onSaleDate: 11/14/2017
   • samples:
     1. • source: From the book
        • formatType: ebook-overdrive
        • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=372c7179-8b70-4fa5-aa69-5d0821289e84&.epub-sample.overdrive.com

languages

1. • code: en
   • name: English

keywords

1. • value: culture clash
2. • value: Iraq
3. • value: War
4. • value: Middle Eastern
5. • value: Middle East
6. • value: Jordan
7. • value: Lebanon
8. • value: Isis
9. • value: pig
10. • value: Syria
11. • value: butcher
12. • value: refugees
13. • value: pigs
14. • value: Assad
15. • value: daesh
16. • value: isil
17. • value: syrian refugees
18. • value: butcher book
19. • value: middle east book
20. • value: middle east novel
21. • value: middle eastern family
22. • value: mother of all pigs
23. • value: Syria book

creators

1. • role: Author
   • fileAs: Halasa, Malu
   • name: Malu Halasa

subjects

1. • value: Fiction
2. • value: Literature

publishDate

2017-11-14T00:00:00-05:00

publishDateText

11/14/2017

mediaType

eBook

shortDescription

The Sabas family lives in a small Jordanian town that for centuries has been descended upon by all manner of invader, the latest a scourge of disconcerting Evangelical tourists. The border town relies on a blackmarket trade of clothes, trinkets , and appliances — the quality of which depends entirely on who's fighting — but the conflict in nearby Syria has the place even more on edge than usual.
Meanwhile, the Sabas home is ruled by women — Mother Fadhma, Laila, Samira, and now, Muna, a niece visiting from America for the first time — and it is brimming with regrets and desires. Clandestine pasts in love, politics, even espionage, threaten the delicate balance of order in the household, as generations clash. The family's ostensible patriarch — Laila's husband Hussein — enjoys no such secrets, not in his family or in town, where Hussein is known as the Levant's only pig butcher, dealing in chops, sausages, and hams, much to the chagrin of...

isOwnedByCollections

True

title

Mother of All Pigs

fullDescription

The Sabas family lives in a small Jordanian town that for centuries has been descended upon by all manner of invader, the latest a scourge of disconcerting Evangelical tourists. The border town relies on a blackmarket trade of clothes, trinkets , and appliances — the quality of which depends entirely on who's fighting — but the conflict in nearby Syria has the place even more on edge than usual.
Meanwhile, the Sabas home is ruled by women — Mother Fadhma, Laila, Samira, and now, Muna, a niece visiting from America for the first time — and it is brimming with regrets and desires. Clandestine pasts in love, politics, even espionage, threaten the delicate balance of order in the household, as generations clash. The family's ostensible patriarch — Laila's husband Hussein — enjoys no such secrets, not in his family or in town, where Hussein is known as the Levant's only pig butcher, dealing in chops, sausages, and hams, much to the chagrin of his observant neighbors.
When a long-lost soldier from Hussein's military past arrives, the Sabas clan must decide whether to protect or expose him, bringing long-simmering rivalries and injustices to the surface. Enchanting and fearless, Halasa's prose intertwines the lives of three generations of women as they navigate the often stifling, sometimes absurd realities of everyday life in the Middle East.

sortTitle

Mother of All Pigs

crossRefId

3647365

reviews

1. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     September 25, 2017
     Halasa’s debut novel focuses on a Jordanian family marked by an inability to discuss problems. Caught between their minority Christian heritage and the successive waves of Muslim refugees, the Sabas family struggles to stay afloat as the Syrian civil war rages nearby. Traditional matriarch Fadhma mourns that most of her 13 children have emigrated to the United States and that her stepson Hussein drinks. Her adult daughter, Samira seems resigned to her old maid role, but takes on dangerous missions for a Syrian women’s political organization. Hussein’s foray into pig farming, aided by his mercenary and profiteering uncle, ensures a level of wealth for the family but raises the hackles of the local Muslim population. Into this heady mix of social pressures, two new arrivals threaten the delicate stability of the family: Fadhma’s granddaughter Muna comes to Jordan from America seeking to understand the life her father fled, and, almost simultaneously, a former army subordinate of Hussein’s appears and roils his suppressed memories. The swirl of secrets, diverging story lines, flashbacks, and even interior monologues from a pig sometimes confuses. Still, Halasa’s sharp critiques and deadpan humor make for a captivating exploration of the intricacies of the modern Middle East.

2. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     November 1, 2017
     

     In this first novel from Halasa (Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline; Transit Tehran: Young Iran and Its Inspirations), cousin Muna, a visitor from America, serves as an examiner and witness to the relationships and intimate lives of the large Sabas family, who live in Jordan in a small town near the Syrian border. Fadhma is the family matriarch and mother of Hussein, who owns a butcher shop and the Marvellous Emporium, a store carrying all types of merchandise. Always catering to the changing whims of his Muslim, Christian, and nonreligious customers, Hussein buys a pig to breed. Disobeying the religious rules against distributing and eating pork, he shelters this "mother of all pigs" on an isolated farm and gets into serious trouble with the local sheikh and his men. Contemporary political and military events, including the current Syrian refugee crisis, encroach on the family. A wayward soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder returns to town, and Hussein's half-sister Samira joins a group of female freedom fighters in order to create a more meaningful life for herself. The struggles of being female in the Middle East, which include stringent cultural demands and discrimination, are thoroughly documented in this timely novel. VERDICT Extraordinary storytelling and a well-balanced tone make this exceptional work highly recommended for discerning readers.--Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH

     Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

popularity

13

publisher

The Unnamed Press

links

• self:
  • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/372c7179-8b70-4fa5-aa69-5d0821289e84/metadata
  • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
• shareInLibby:
  • href: https://link.overdrive.com/share?q=hac3AMShdiw
  • type: text/HTML

id

372c7179-8b70-4fa5-aa69-5d0821289e84

starRating

5

bisacCodes

1. • code: FIC032000
   • description: Fiction / War & Military
2. • code: FIC045000
   • description: Fiction / Family Life / General
3. • code: FIC066000
   • description: Fiction / Small Town & Rural