I’m reading Azar Nafisi’s book right now, and I’m having a hard time getting through it. If you haven’t read it, Nafisi was an English lit professor at University of Tehran in Iran, and once she could no longer teach under Ayatollah Khomeini’s rule, she held a small group class in her home with her brightest students from past classes. The memoir is broken into four sections, one of which is Lolita. The others are James, Gatsy and Austen. But the other sections aren’t necessarily about her female students. She recalls different classrooms, and the conversations and controversies that happened around the books she taught. My issue with the book is that she meanders off into lit lessons so frequently that I lose my connection to the people she is trying to invoke, although the Amazon review highlights this as part of the book’s charm.

The OBW Bar & Grill, 20 W. 38th St. NYC, hosted my fellow AU grad Michelle Angelo’s film The Many Faces of Fire Island this past Saturday night. Chris McKenzie (Trapped by the Mormons) came down from Boston and Michelle Manassah (Friendly Surprises) was up from DC. Unfortunatly, I was sick and left early but congrats Michelle on a successful evening. Sux your mom couldn’t be there. By the way, the bartender had on a Cruzan hook bracelet - I was totally impressed with the bar.