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Out Of Place

A Memoir
By Edward W. Said
Series: Best of Granta
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Brief Description
Edward Said experienced both British and American imperialism as the old Arab order crumbled in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This account of his early life reveals how it influenced his books Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism. Edward Said was born in Jerusalem and brought... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Edward Said experienced both British and American imperialism as the old Arab order crumbled in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This account of his early life reveals how it influenced his books Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism.

Edward Said was born in Jerusalem and brought up in Cairo, spending every summer in the Lebanese mountain village of Dhour el Shweir, until he was 'banished' to America in 1951. This work is a mixture of emotional archaeology and memory, exploring an essentially irrecoverable past.

As ill health sets him thinking about endings, Edward Said returns to his beginnings in this personal memoir of his ferociously demanding 'Victorian' father and his adored, inspiring, yet ambivalent mother.

Now with a new introduction by Hisham Matar.

Series: Best of Granta

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781803513065

Publisher: Granta Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 13 August 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Granta Books

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 320

Collections

Biography & Memoir Education & Reference Edward W. Said History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Non-Fiction Pre-Orders Pre-order Biographies Pre-order Books Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date Series: Best of Granta

About the Author

Edward Said (1935-2003) was one of the world's most influential literary and cultural critics. Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, he was the author of twenty-two books, including Orientalism, Culture and Imperialism and Beginnings. He was also a music critic, opera scholar, pianist and the most eloquent spokesman for the Palestinian cause in the West.

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    Orientalism is one of the greatest and most influential books of ideas to be published since the end of the European empires. For generations now, it has defined our understanding of colonialism and empire, and with each passing year, its influence becomes, if anything, even greater. To mark its 25th anniversary, Orientalism rightfully takes its place as a Penguin Modern...
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  • Mimesis
    More than half a century after its translation into English, Erich Auerbach's Mimesis remains a masterpiece of literary criticism. A brilliant display of erudition, wit, and wisdom, his exploration of how great European writers from Homer to Virginia Woolf depicted reality has taught generations how to read Western literature. This new expanded edition includes a substantial essay in introduction by...
    By Edward W. Said and Erich Auerbach
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  • The Question of Palestine
    This original and deeply provocative book was the first to make Palestine the subject of a serious debate—one that is now more critical than ever. With the rigorous scholarship that he brought to his influential Orientalism and an exile’s passion (he was Palestinian by birth and had been a member of the Palestine National Council), Edward W. Said traces the...
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  • Freud and the Non-European
    Using an impressive array of material from literature, archaeology and social theory, Edward Said explores the profound implications of Freud's Moses and Monotheism for Middle-East politics today. The resulting book reveals Said's abiding interest in Freud's work and its important influence on his own. He proposes that Freud's assumption that Moses was an Egyptian undermines any simple ascription of a...
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  • Culture and Imperialism
    From the author of Orientalism, a searching examination of Western culture and the roots of imperialism, now with a foreword by Hari Kunzru. 'Readers accustomed to the precision and elegance of Edward Said's analytical prowess will not be disappointed . . . Those discovering Said for the first time will be profoundly impressed' - Toni Morrison Following his profoundly influential...
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  • Representations of the Intellectual
    Representations of the Intellectual
    Are intellectuals merely the servants of special interests, or do they have a larger responsibility? In these wide-ranging essays, one of our most brilliant and fiercely independent public thinkers addresses this question with extraordinary eloquence. Edward W. Said sees the intellectual as an exile and amateur whose role it is 'to speak the truth to power' even at the risk...
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  • Culture and Imperialism
    From Jane Austen to Salman Rushdie, and from Yeats to the news coverage of the Gulf War, this is a broad account of the roots of imperialism in European culture, and an analysis of the impact of 19th-century British and French imperialism on the culture of the period. The author focuses on the way in which this cultural legacy has...
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  • Reflections On Exile
    With their powerful blend of political and aesthetic concerns, Edward W. Said's writings have transformed the field of literary studies. As in the title essay, the widely admired Reflections on Exile, the fact of his own exile and the fate of the Palestinians have given both form and the force of intimacy to the questions Said has pursued. Taken together,...
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