Out Of Place: A Memoir Site

: Available at sites like Penguin Random House and Bookshop.org .

(1999) is the autobiography of Edward W. Said , a prominent Palestinian-American intellectual and author of the seminal work Orientalism . Written primarily after Said received a terminal leukemia diagnosis in 1991, the memoir serves as a "subjective account" and "emotional archaeology" of a world that has largely disappeared due to decades of political upheaval in the Middle East. Core Summary and Background

: Said explores the dissonance of being a Palestinian Christian with a British first name ("Edward") and American citizenship, living in colonial Arab environments. Out of Place: A Memoir

: The narrative is dominated by his relationship with his "ferociously demanding" father and his "inspiring, yet ambivalent" mother. Key Themes

: Said wrote the memoir as a way to "bridge the sheer distance" between his adult life and a childhood spent in places—like pre-1948 Palestine and colonial Egypt—that no longer exist in their original form. : Available at sites like Penguin Random House and Bookshop

: The central theme is the feeling of being "permanently out of place"—an outsider even within his own family and culture.

: Signed first editions can sometimes be found through Burnside Rare Books . Out of Place: A Memoir: Said, Edward W. - Amazon.com Written primarily after Said received a terminal leukemia

: It traces his growth from a confused young boy into an intellectually mature man, documenting how his suppressed Palestinian origins transformed into a chosen national identity. Reader Resources