Jean Sasson - Growing Up Bin Laden[Welcome Jean Sasson, and Host A. J. Rossmiller.][As a courtesy to our guests, please keep comments to the book.  Please take other conversations to a previous thread. - bev]

Growing Up bin Laden: Osama’s Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World

It can be all too easy to separate ourselves – mentally, emotionally, physically – from those we perceive as our enemies.  We classify them as “other,” as monsters or psychopaths or subhuman, in part because doing so helps us process some of the terrible actions in the world.  Aberrance at that level requires no explanation, we think, only condemnation.  But this distance can prevent an understanding of the context of evil, and impede the processes by which we might comprehend and combat it in its various forms.  Jean Sasson therefore does us a tremendous service in her new book, Growing Up bin Laden, by showing us the contours of lives far beyond our experience, uncovering the realities of individuals and circumstances we rarely get to see.

In doing so, Jean manages both to convey a vivid picture of Najwa and Omar bin Laden, the wife and son of Osama bin Laden, and to explore the broader cultural, religious, and ideological influences that affected (and effected) the world around them.  Growing Up bin Laden is masterful in part because it weaves the personal stories of two interesting, sympathetic people within a broader context of the events leading up to and after 9/11, presenting it all through perspectives most of us never experience or even hear about.  As Jean explains, much of Osama’s life was hidden even from his immediate family, but some elements permeated their lives in ways both obvious and subtle.

The narrative is presented almost exclusively in first-person, alternating between Najwa and Omar; we hear more from Najwa at the beginning of the book, and more from Omar toward the end, with Jean occasionally using her own voice to provide details or context.  Ultimately, the book does not “explain” Osama bin Laden or his actions, but that isn’t its intent – no person or work could ever accomplish that feat.  Rather, it tells the story of two people whose lives provide a backdrop to some of the most momentous events in recent history.

Growing Up bin Laden also suggests, though without explicitly saying, that people are not simply born the way they become, for good or for ill.  You can be born into privilege and stability and become a murderous ideologue; you can be inculcated with militarism from an early age and become a peace activist.  The “how” and “why” of terrorism and hatred are too often cast in political terms, as wimpy liberal excuse-making on one hand and reductive conservative oversimplification on the other.  This book, without a hint of agenda or ideological bias, provides examples rather than arguments, giving the reader much to think about, both in terms of the individual lives presented and the broader political and philosophical implications.

I do not mean to imply, of course, that Growing Up bin Laden is dense – it is a spectacularly engaging and entertaining read.  On a personal level, I couldn’t help being utterly fascinated with the Omar sections of the book; he is barely a year older than I, and I felt a sense of “There but by the grace of God . . .” as I read the account of his young life.  Having written a book that addressed a major part of my own life, I understand the fear and uncertainty of putting yourself out there in service of an important story, but more broadly, I also related to the general struggle of trying to find one’s way ahead as a young adult.

Najwa’s tale is perhaps even more compelling, and reflects Jean’s incredible skills as a writer and storyteller.  The accounts are purely from Omar and Najwa, but make no mistake: getting the narrative, the details and the flow and the arc, is a monumental task, and Jean achieves a seamless result.  This is no surprise – she is a bestselling author, but more than that, she truly understands the Middle East.  She spent years living there, and it’s hard to think of another journalist who has done more to highlight and explore the lives of women in the region.  With the rights of women arguably the moral challenge of our time, as slavery and totalitarianism were in previous centuries, Jean’s contributions are instructive, captivating, and vital.

So without further exposition, it’s my pleasure and privilege to introduce Jean Sasson, a journalist, humanitarian, activist, and best-selling author of Growing Up bin Laden: Osama’s Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World.  Please join us in the comments for a discussion!