WEST OF KABUL, EAST OF NEW YORK An Afghan American Story

Born to an Afghan father and American mother, Ansary lived in Afghanistan for his first 16 years, then relocated to America. To hear him tell it, most Americans knew little, if anything, about Afghanistan until after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001, when the U.S. retaliated by attacking the Taliban stronghold. Ansary’s book was begun as a way of telling people about his country before the war. But, caught up in his own past, his views might be questionable. Even though this memoir starts in 2001, the majority of his concerns end with his father's death in 1982. This limited and subjective account can be interesting, though, and hearing Ansary's low-key reading adds a humanizing tone. R.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 07]